Wishing Heart
by Tenukii
Summary: Sequel to "Shelter from the Storm." Tycho the Dark Matter decides he wants to be a Kracko, so he and Nimbus try to find a way to visit NOVA, the great comet and granter of wishes.
1. Chapter 1

Nimbus the Kracko had always looked forward to the spring thaw. For one, the melting snows meant that his family would soon be able to replenish their dwindling food supplies. However, it also meant that it was time for one of their rare trips to Mirovias, a small city one day's travel away from their home.

This year, the trip would be a little different, because the family of four Krackos had a new member: a little Dark Matter named Tycho. Nimbus had only known Tycho for about half a year, but he had already come to love his new friend dearly. They spent most of their time together, and Nimbus was determined not to leave Tycho behind when he traveled to Mirovias- even though most beings were understandably leery of Dark Matter.

Just how to disguise Tycho for the trip was the matter on Nimbus' mind as the two wandered out one morning to survey the melting of the snow. The temperature had risen well above freezing, but there was still a damp chill to the air. Despite Tycho's assurances that he was used to the cold, Nimbus worried about him being uncomfortable without a Kracko's protective layer of fluff.

"Hey Nimbus, the snow's really patchy over here!" the small Dark Matter called as he darted over to a clearing devoid of the scrawny scrub trees that grew in the area. "There're even a few flowers!"

When Nimbus floated over to investigate, he was pleased to see a few bright yellow daffodils sprouting from the seemingly dead ground. He drifted downward to sniff at one. "These are Ma's favorites! We should pick some for her."

"Does this mean we can go to Mirovias soon?" Tycho asked hopefully.

"I think so." Nimbus plucked a flower, then smiled as he tucked its stem into the headband of red beads Tycho wore. "But. . . I still haven't thought of a way we can disguise you- unless you've changed your mind about posing as Cirrus' baby."

"Pah!" declared Tycho. "I'm not spending the whole time wrapped up in a blanket!" He picked a flower himself and threaded the stem through a curl of Nimbus' fluff, then he gave the Kracko a kiss by fluttering his eyelid against him. "Actually, I had an idea about that. There's. . . something I want to try showing you." Nimbus watched, a little apprehensive, as Tycho drifted a short distance away then turned back to face him.

"Um, some of us Dark Matter can take a second form," Tycho explained. "We hardly ever use it because it takes a lot of effort, but I bet no one in the city would recognize me like this!" He closed his eye and began to move his petals back and forth. After a moment of effort, his body became amorphous and started to change shape. His petals seemed to be absorbed into his body, and a cleft appeared along the radius of his spherical form as he began to grow to about twice of his usual size.

Nimbus had to fight back a worried cry at seeing his lover change, but he managed to wait until Tycho was finished. Tycho seemed to be bent over in his new body, then he abruptly straightened out. Nimbus blinked in amazement at the sight of Tycho's new form: he was now somewhat humanoid in appearance, although his body was completely covered by a long, grey cloak. A mask hid his face, out of which a single eye peered, and a mane of black, spiky hair grew from his head.

At first, Nimbus thought that he didn't recognize Tycho at all in the new form, but then he looked into the eye watching him apprehensively. It was still the eye he loved, golden with a red rim on the outer edge of the iris.

"What do you think?" Tycho asked. His voice too was essentially the same, only a bit deeper.

"You. . . you look very dashing," Nimbus said truthfully. He floated over and reached out a puffy appendage to touch Tycho's hair. "Although it's strange to see you with hair! Is it very hard to stay in that form?"

Tycho shrugged his new shoulders. "Not too bad, I just have to concentrate. If I got too distracted- like if I got badly hurt or something- I'd change back." He reached a dark hand out from under his cloak and shyly stroked one of Nimbus' puffs. "I don't look too scary, though?"

"No. . . and you're right; I don't think anyone would know you're a Dark Matter." Nimbus pressed a little closer to him, placing his appendages around Tycho's new sides. Tycho made a happy noise and wrapped Nimbus in his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, I'm so glad you like me like this too!" he sighed in relief.

"I'd love you no matter what you looked like!" Nimbus promised as he leaned up to kiss Tycho's face.

"Mmn," Tycho purred. He gave Nimbus another squeeze, then turned back into his normal spherical form with a little popping noise. "Whew, I'll have to practice a little! This feels a lot more comfortable."

Nimbus pulled him close for another embrace. "I do like this form best. . . . I can hug you better!"

They picked a few daffodils for Ebru then went back to their house to report on the condition of the snow. Nimbus' older brother Cumulus was away from home on a short hunting trip, hoping to supplement the remnants of their winter food stores with fresh meat. However, Ebru and Nimbus' sister, Cirrus, were glad to hear that spring was finally on its way.

Over the next week, Tycho practiced taking on his humanoid form. At Nimbus' urging, he eventually agreed to show it to the rest of the Kracko family; for some reason, Tycho was afraid that they would be repulsed by it, but they all approved. (Cirrus even thought him rather handsome.) Once Cumulus returned from his hunting trip, the family made plans to take the trip to Mirovias in three days' time.

The day before their trip, each family member packed her or his own supplies for the trip; besides food for the trip to the city and back, they also carried various goods to sell. In Nimbus' room, Tycho helped him fill his knapsack with things Nimbus had made over the winter. His specialty was making headbands for both males and females, each uniquely decorated with snail shells, dyed nuts, and other items he had found on his trips to gather food for his family.

"Isn't this too small for Krackos?" Tycho asked as he pawed through the pile of headbands with a petal, holding up a little band beaded with acorn caps.

"Oh, there are lots of creatures in Mirovias besides just Krackos!" Nimbus explained. "I make them in several sizes so that I can sell them to many different species." He smiled down at the little Dark Matter and tugged on the headband Tycho wore. "Yours is a lot smaller than the ones I wear, for instance."

Tycho helped scoop the headbands into Nimbus' knapsack, then Nimbus added a small bag of rare nuts he had found on a lone tree during one of his foraging trips.

"I wish I had something to sell," the Dark Matter sighed. "I wanted to buy you a new journal, since you used up your old one teaching me to write."

"Oh, don't worry about that- I have a little money left from our last trip, so if I sell these things, I can buy another journal. . . and we can share it." He leaned down and kissed the petals on top of Tycho's "head." "We're together now, so everything that's mine is yours too."

The morning of the journey dawned sunny and slightly warmer than usual, perfect weather for traveling. The four Krackos and Tycho started out after an early breakfast, each Kracko wearing her or his knapsack. Tycho floated along beside Nimbus; he planned to stay in his usual spherical form until they neared the city. The trip went by quickly as they took turns telling stories and playing scavenger hunt games where they searched for certain rocks or leaves along the route.

By the time they finally came in sight of Mirovias, the sun was setting. Ebru stopped them and turned to Tycho.

"You'd better disguise yourself now, dear," she told him. "We'll start seeing other travelers soon."

"All right. . . ." Tycho closed his eye in effort as he transformed into his humanoid body.

"I hope no one recognizes him," Cumulus muttered. "What if someone's seen a Dark Matter like that before?"

"I'm sure no one has!" Tycho protested.

"We'll just have to hope for the best," Ebru told Cumulus firmly. "Now Tycho, we always stay at the same inn here, so they know us well. We'll just tell them that you're a new friend of Nimbus' who's staying with us. We're staying for four nights, but we'll be out in the city selling or buying during the day, so the innkeeper won't see too much of you anyway."

"And when we're shut up in our room, you can be your usual cute little ball shape!" added Cirrus.

As they traveled on and drew closer to Mirovias, Tycho murmured to Nimbus, "Are you going to have to pay for me to stay here? I don't want to cost you extra."

"No, the innkeeper charges by the room, not by how many people are in it." Nimbus patted Tycho's shoulder with an appendage.

"Does it cost a lot of money to stay in an inn?" asked Tycho, snuggling up against Nimbus's fluff as they floated along: even in his new form, he had no visible feet and appeared to drift across the ground.

"It does at some places, but this innkeeper lets us pay with goods instead of money," explained Nimbus. "She loves Cirrus' weaving, so we bring her mats and blankets, and Cumulus usually saves a fur for her."

Tycho grew nervous as they drew closer and closer to Mirovias; in fact, he seemed less at ease than even Cumulus. He drew away from Nimbus a bit, apparently unwilling to let others know that they were a couple. Nimbus was a little hurt, but he could understand. He was a bit shy himself about broadcasting the fact that he was Tycho's lover.

As they entered the outskirts of the city, the sun was nearly set, but a small, pink Flamer was spinning up and down the sidewalks lighting street lamps. Tycho looked at the Flamer with interest; with its single eye, it did vaguely resemble a pastel Dark Matter. The Flamer glanced down at Tycho, then hummed curiously and drifted closer. Nimbus watched them, surprised at his own feeling of jealousy. He had never had any competition for Tycho's affections, and Nimbus was embarrassed to realize just how worried he was that Tycho would find someone more like himself more attractive.

But then, Tycho turned away from the Flamer and floated closer to Nimbus instead; apparently he had only been inquisitive about what the little pink creature was. The Flamer spun away, going back to its task as the Krackos and the Dark Matter moved on.

The small inn where the family stayed was nearby. Ebru tapped on the door with a spike then drew back until it swung open. Another female Kracko peered out. She was a light Kracko like Nimbus and Cirrus, tinted a faint sunset orange, and she was exceedingly fluffy with curly down.

Ebru bobbed politely in the air. "Good evening, Mrs. Ufford."

"Oh, Ebru!" The elder Kracko beamed with her chocolate-brown eye. "I was just tellin' Mr. Ufford yesterday that it was time for your spring visit! Come on in!" She patted Ebru affectionately with an appendage, then gestured for the family to come in. Each of the younger Krackos greeted her, but then her friendly eye fell on Tycho, following close behind Nimbus.

"And who's this handsome young man?"

"This is my friend, Tycho," Nimbus said shyly. "He's staying with us for a while."

"It's nice to meet you," Tycho mumbled as he looked up at her. Nimbus could understand why he was a little nervous; Mrs. Ufford was quite large as well as effusive.

"You too, honey," she cooed, patting his spiky hair. "I'm glad to see Nimbus has made a friend! He's always been so shy. . . ." Nimbus hurried Tycho inside before she could say anything else to embarrass him.

The inn was small and not much more elaborate that Nimbus' own dwelling. However, as he had told Tycho, on this south side of the city, most inhabitants led a simple way of life. The fancy hotels and residences were on the Mirovias' eastern side.

The common room was warm and cozy, though, with a small fire burning in the fireplace and several low tables with mats arranged about them where the guests could eat. A couple other Krackos and a family of Waddle-Doos were having supper at the tables. Several of them gave Tycho curious looks, but then they went back to their meal without crying out warnings about Dark Matter. Nimbus breathed a little sigh of relief.

"I've got y'all's regular room open if that'll do for you," Mrs. Ufford told Ebru. "If you'll excuse me a moment, I'll go tell Mr. Ufford to move an extra nest in for Tycho here."

"Oh, I don't want to be any trouble," Tycho protested, but she just smiled at him.

"Nonsense! I wouldn't hear of you sleepin' on the floor! Y'all just have a seat, and I'll get you some supper while he's workin'."

While her husband was presumably hauling furniture, Mrs. Ufford brought them a meal of bread, cheese, and stew. Nimbus was used to stew and cornbread, but the light, fluffy white bread and the cheese were both a treat. Tycho tried to convince their hostess that he wasn't hungry, but she insisted on bringing enough for him, believing that he was only trying to be polite. He moved his food around on his plate, then when she was out of the room, shared it with the Krackos.

After they had eaten, the family went up to their room. It was small (and seemed even smaller with five nests rather than four), but it was also well-furnished with blankets, a wash basin, and their own little fire place. Tycho looked around with interest, but then he drifted to the window and peered out at the lantern-lit street below.

"Can't we go look around?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, but it's not really safe enough here," Ebru told him. "Some parts of the city are fine at night, but it would be too easy for you to get in a bad part of Mirovias from here." She chuckled softly when he gave a disappointed-sounding agreement. "You'll get to see plenty tomorrow, I promise. In the morning, we'll go to the market to sell the things we brought."

"At least you can go on and change back to your usual form now," Nimbus pointed out when Tycho came to sit beside him.

"Don't feel bad," Cirrus whispered from Tycho's other side. "I want to go out too, but she never lets any of us go at night- not even Cumulus!"

Tycho turned back into his sphere-shaped form and nestled close to Nimbus' fluffy side. "Well," he admitted, smiling up at Nimbus with his eye, "This isn't so bad."

Tired from their long journey, the family went to bed early that night. It was the first time Tycho had had his own bed, and Nimbus watched a little sadly by the firelight as the Dark Matter tucked himself in. He missed the feeling of his lover beside him, but he didn't want to begrudge Tycho the chance to have a nest all to himself.

Nimbus dozed off quickly and was just on the verge of deep sleep when he felt something moving in his blankets. His eye flew open, and he tensed up, ready to throw himself out of the nest to escape whatever vermin had found him. . . but then he saw Tycho burrowing down beside him.

"Tycho," Nimbus panted in relief. The large golden and red eye blinked up at him from under the covers.

"Sorry," Tycho whispered, "but I couldn't sleep. It was too lonely over there without you." With a warm feeling under his fluff, Nimbus wrapped his appendages around Tycho and held him close. He kissed the little Dark Matter's face and stroked his petals with an appendage.

"It's all right," he murmured back. "I was lonely without you too."

* * *

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, the family arose early and dressed in their nicest clothing and accessories. Tycho watched with interest as fluff was combed, headbands were donned, and puffy bodies were wrapped in cloaks and shawls.

"You all look really nice," he told them, although his eye kept wandering back to Nimbus.

"We'll have a better chance at selling things if we're dressed up," Cirrus explained as she straightened her headband for the third time.

"Oh, that reminds me. . . ." Nimbus dug through his knapsack with an appendage and pulled out the ribbon Tycho had given him, then tied it securely into his fluff.

"I wish I could wear my headband," sighed the Dark Matter, "but my head's too big for it in my other form."

Nimbus smiled down at him with his eye. "Then I'll make you another one when we get home!" He gave Tycho a tight hug before the Dark Matter transformed into his humanoid body, then they all went downstairs for breakfast. Mrs. Ufford had prepared porridge, which like the stew was something Nimbus was used to. However, each bowl was garnished with a few berries: not the small, hard winter berries that grew near Nimbus' settlement, but instead red ones which were large and juicy. Nimbus ate his berries with great relish, along with Tycho's once the Dark Matter realized he was going to be served a meal whether he wanted it or not.

After breakfast, they left the inn and headed towards the center of Mirovias where the market square was located. Here, Nimbus explained to Tycho as they floated along, anyone was allowed to set up shop and sell her or his wares. The property was owned by the city, and no rent was charged- although anyone causing trouble or making a mess had to pay a hefty fine.

The family threaded their way through the maze of stalls, looking for an empty one they could stake out for themselves. The stalls were arranged in rows up and down the square. The larger stalls and those in highly trafficked locations were already taken, but Cumulus spotted one large enough for the family's wares. He floated in first, edging his way past the shelving set up in the front of the stall, which was just wide enough for the four Krackos to float abreast. The rest of the stall was empty, reaching back only a few feet to allow for storage of extra inventory.

The rest of the Krackos followed Cumulus in, with Tycho bringing up the rear and hovering in the back where he would be more or less out of the way. The Dark Matter watched as the family began to lay out what they had brought to sell. Cumulus placed on the far right a collection of arrowheads he had made over the winter, and Ebru laid out the few garments she had had time to craft between them and Cirrus' woven mats. That left a little space on the left for Nimbus' headbands, which he carefully placed in three rows: smaller on the bottom, then larger, and finally the most elaborate at the top.

As intrigued as he was by the Krackos' works, Tycho was also fascinated by Mirovias and its inhabitants. He wriggled out of the stall past Nimbus and darted back and forth among those nearby, looking at both the goods for sale and the creatures selling them. Nimbus had feared that Tycho's appearance might frighten off potential customers, but no one paid him much attention amid the variety of other species in the marketplace. Best of all, no one seemed to recognize him as a Dark Matter.

Nimbus watched from his place at the stall as Tycho floated across the aisle before them to examine the goods offered by the facing vendor. Nimbus couldn't tell what was for sale, but he could see that the vendors were a small group of Noddies, two of whom were snoozing on the stall's counter. Tycho quickly lost interest and ventured to the right, where a Paint Roller was selling artwork. Finally, Tycho returned to the Krackos' stall to flood Nimbus with questions about all the species he had seen.

To the whole family's delight, their goods began to sell quickly. Cumulus' arrowheads- supplemented by a few Tycho had made himself- were especially popular, as were Nimbus' headbands. In fact, Nimbus had sold two-thirds of his supply before midday. Just as the Krackos were thinking of opening the basket of sandwiches they had brought from the inn, a young, light-colored Co-Kracko came floating over to their stall, eyeing the headbands eagerly.

"Hey sis! C'mere!" he called. "I want a headband!" While the boy was obviously still a child- all Co-Krackos, who had only four spikes and four appendages, were- the sister had at least passed adolescence: she had a full coat of pale fluff, and all ten of her spikes were grown in.

"Darius, you've already spent your allowance!" the girl scolded as she came to her brother's side. "Just like last week!"

"If you get me a headband, I'll pay you back!" protested the Co-Kracko. His sister gave him a disbelieving look, but then she turned to Nimbus.

"How much are they?" she asked him, glancing up at him shyly with her large hazel eye.

"It depends on the size," Nimbus answered cheerfully as Tycho peeked around him, interested in the proceedings. "500 G for the little ones- I think they would fit Darius here. The larger ones are 800 G, except for the really fancy ones; those are a little more."

"See, Rachel, I could pay you back with next week's allowance!" Darius pleaded. "Mom and Dad give me 500 G every week!"

"I _know_." Rachel looked down at the headbands, although she raised her eye back to Nimbus from time to time. "I. . . I guess you can get one. But I only have 800 G left myself, so you can't stop anywhere else on the way home!"

Pleased at making another sale, Nimbus asked the Co-Kracko, "Which one would you like?" However, Darius had turned to look up at his sister, a thoughtful expression in his large brown eye.

"But. . . you wouldn't have enough left to get one for _you_, Rachel."

"It's okay; I don't need one," Rachel assured him lightly. Still, Nimbus noticed that she kept glancing longingly at a headband decorated with polished hazelnuts.

"Weren't you going to get something new to wear to the party, though?" persisted her brother. Before Rachel could rebuff him, he turned to Nimbus and chattered excitedly. "Every year, our neighborhood has a party to welcome spring! It's tomorrow night, and Rachel's such a _girl_ that she keeps talking about buying new stuff to dress up in for it!"

"Darius, hush!" The girl Kracko's cheeks flushed visibly under her fluff. "Just pick out your headband, and let's go!"

"Wait a minute," Nimbus interrupted. He remembered his own mother's stories of Kracko parties in Mirovias, and how he had dreamed of attending with Tycho. . . dressed so finely that no one would suspect he wasn't actually wealthy. "Maybe we can make a deal. I need to get rid of all these so I don't have to carry them home, so. . . how about two for the price of one?"

Rachel turned back to him in surprise. "Really? Which ones?"

Nimbus shrugged his appendages. "You can take one of the 800 G ones and one of the 500 G ones, whichever two you like. That way, you'll both have one to wear. Uh, and that'll be two less for me to carry."

As Rachel picked up the hazelnut head band in one appendage, Tycho spoke for the first time in a while. "Nimbus!" When Nimbus turned to him, the Dark Matter's eye looked puzzled. "You worked so hard on these! Why are you giving them away?" Rachel froze and looked at Tycho as if she hadn't really noticed him before.

"Tycho, it's okay," Nimbus hissed, at the same time making a gesture to reassure Rachel before she tried to put the headband back. "Sellers and customers make deals all the time!" Nimbus knew what it was like not to have much money, and he didn't want the girl to be embarrassed.

"But-"

"Tycho, _hush_," Nimbus silenced him, then he turned back to Rachel nervously. "I'm sorry; he's never been to Mirovias before. He's not used to doing business." Tycho slunk back a little bit after being shushed. Although he made no further protest, Nimbus saw that he still looked confused, as well as a little hurt. Nimbus turned to reassure him, but Rachel's next question interrupted him, and he turned back to her instead.

"You're. . . not from Mirovias, then?" the girl Kracko asked as she opened a small purse she carried. She took out eight 100 G coins and laid them on the stall's counter, along with the hazelnut headband and one Darius had picked out, decorated with little snail shells.

"No, my family lives a day's travel away." Nimbus took the money, then leaned over the counter to plunk Darius' headband onto his top appendage, encircling his little spike. "There you go!"

"Um. . . ." Rachel hesitated as she donned her own headband, then she asked softly, "Would you like to come to the party too? It's for our neighborhood, but we can bring guests."

"You mean it?" Nimbus' eye widened with excitement at the chance to finally attend a real party with Tycho, even if it wasn't the wealthy galas his mother had once witnessed. Still, there was a problem: Darius had said the event would be held at night, when Ebru insisted that her children stay inside. Then another sobering thought occurred to Nimbus. "Oh, but. . . is it only for Krackos?"

"No, not just Krackos. There are a lot of us in the neighborhood, but there are other races too." She blushed again then ventured with a little giggle, "Why? Are you looking for a girl from another species?"

Nimbus flushed brightly. "N-no! It's not because of _that_. I just wondered if we would be welcome, that's all."

"'We'?" Rachel seemed confused.

"Well, me and Tycho- my friend. Since he's not a Kracko." Nimbus gestured in Tycho's direction with an appendage, realizing that he hadn't mentioned the Dark Matter's name. Tycho's eye brightened a little, but then it clouded over with doubt once more as he looked back at Rachel when she spoke.

"Oh, but. . . ." The color showing through Rachel's fluff heightened, and she looked down again. Though she said nothing else, it was then that Nimbus understood that she had been asking _him_ to the party. . . as her date, without Tycho.

"Oh," Nimbus mumbled, certain he had never been so embarrassed before in his life. "I-I'm sorry, I. . . didn't understand."

"N-no, it's my fault!" Rachel began, but Tycho interrupted again.

"Nimbus, you can go without me," the Dark Matter said in a voice that sounded too small for his humanoid form. "I. . . I don't mind." Nimbus turned to him, but Tycho refused to meet his gaze. His golden and red eye was turned downward, blinking rapidly.

"No, you both can come!" Rachel insisted, her blush fading, before Nimbus answered him. "No one said I couldn't have more than one guest, and. . . well, I owe you a favor anyway for letting us have both headbands." She smiled at Nimbus with her eye, though she still looked a little wistful. "I'll meet you two here tomorrow night, around sunset, okay? Our neighborhood isn't too far."

Nimbus glanced over at Ebru on the other side of their stall and wondered how he would manage to convince her to let them go. Still, it would hurt Rachel's feelings if he refused, not to mention that it was a chance he and Tycho might never get again. _I'll think of __**something**__ to convince Ma,_ Nimbus decided, then he nodded at Rachel.

"All right, thank you very much. We'll be here. If something comes up and you won't be able to make it, you can leave us a note here in this stall."

"Okay, you can do the same for me!" Rachel took Darius firmly by one appendage, then waved another of hers goodbye. "I'll see you soon!"

As they left, Nimbus turned back to Tycho, speaking lightly to try to cheer up the Dark Matter. "I always wanted to go to a party here in the city! We'll have fun, won't we?" But Tycho only looked at him sadly, finally raising his eye to the Kracko's again.

"You should go without me," he insisted in that same small voice. "She's a very pretty Kracko, and I. . . I'm not."

"Tycho!" Nimbus floated over to him, placing an appendage on each of Tycho's armored shoulders. "I'm not going _anywhere_ without you! I didn't even know she meant. . . you know, for me to go as her _date_."

"But she kept flirting with you!" Tycho protested, his voice rising to nearly a wail. "And then you gave her a free headband, and- well, why would you do that if you didn't. . . _like_ her?"

"Because she and her brother didn't have much money, and. . . well, I know what that's like." Even though he knew anyone could be watching them in the open market, Nimbus reached up an appendage to stroke Tycho's cheek. "And because I know how she feels- about wanting to look nice for the party, I mean. I've wanted to go somewhere like that with you ever since I met you. I would want to look good enough to be seen with you."

"But _she_ wanted to be seen with _you_," muttered Tycho. He looked down as if he still didn't quite believe Nimbus. "You're. . . you're sure you wouldn't rather be with another Kracko than with a. . . with me?"

Nimbus felt sad himself at the very idea. "I'm sure, Tycho." He pressed his fluffy body against Tycho's chest, huddling against him. "I love _you_," he whispered. "I don't want to be with anyone else."

To his relief, he felt Tycho's arms wrap around him, and the Dark Matter hugged him tightly. "I love you too!" Tycho mumbled as he bent his head to nuzzle his face against Nimbus' fluff. "And. . . and I think you're beautiful, no matter what you're wearing! So don't worry about not being good enough for _me_."

"Okay." Nimbus turned to give Tycho's cheek a soft kiss with his eyelid, although the Dark Matter's tone still worried him. Tycho tensed his fingers, gripping Nimbus' fluff tightly as he returned the kiss with his own eye. However, when he turned away a moment later, his eye still showed some doubt.

* * *

to be continued


	3. Chapter 3

That evening after dinner, when the Krackos were back in their room, Nimbus decided to broach the subject of attending the party. Ebru was sitting in front of the fire counting the money they had made that day, so Nimbus edged over and settled himself beside her.

"How'd we do today, Ma?" he asked.

She beamed at him. "Very well, thank Zakkiel! I sold everything I'd brought. I still feel guilty about you kids giving me half of what you make-"

"Don't!" Nimbus interrupted. "We're a family, and it belongs to all of us." He gave his mother a little hug. "Besides, we all use what you buy with it!"

"Oh, and also- Tycho, every one of your arrowheads sold!" Ebru called to the Dark Matter. Tycho, now in his spherical form, smiled and waved at her from where he was sitting alone in his nest. However, as soon as she looked away, Nimbus saw the happy look fade from Tycho's eye, replaced by a pensive gaze. The little Dark Matter had been unnaturally quiet all afternoon and evening. It worried Nimbus, but he decided that the best course of action was to leave Tycho alone and not bother him.

"Um, Ma," Nimbus began, faltering a little, "a couple young Krackos bought headbands from me today, and. . . well, they said there's this spring party in their neighborhood tomorrow night. They wanted Tycho and me to come."

"At night?" Ebru looked at him with concern. "Nimbus, you know it's not safe for you to go out at night in the city."

"But Ma, I'm sure it'll be safe in their neighborhood!"

"Oh, I'm not worried about _that_. It's getting there that could be dangerous. This isn't a good part of town, here on the south side."

Nimbus barely managed to keep from giving an irritated, "I know, I know," as this was a statement he had heard many times before. "It's just. . . well, I always wanted to take Tycho to a party, and. . . this is the only chance I'll probably ever get!"

"I know, dear," Ebru sighed, "but it's too dangerous."

"But he's a Dark Matter!" Nimbus protested. "And-" He glanced around the room, searching for another excuse. His eye fell on Cumulus, who was playing a game involving colored pebbles with Cirrus. "What if Cumulus went with us? If the three of us are together, we can take care of each other!"

Ebru hesitated. "Have you asked Cumulus if he wants to go?"

"If I want to go where?" Cumulus looked up upon overhearing his name.

"Um, Tycho and I got invited to this party-" Nimbus began.

"A party?" squealed Cirrus. "Can I come too?" She gave Ebru a desperate look. "Please, Ma, if Cumulus and Nimbus and Tycho are all going. . . ."

"I didn't say anyone was going yet!" Ebru told her firmly, then she looked at Nimbus. "Tell Cumulus about it, and see if he would mind going with you."

Cumulus did not, in fact, mind at all, especially when he heard about the pretty Kracko who had extended the invitation. "You mean that cutie who bought the headbands from you around lunchtime? I'd be happy to go along!" He drifted closer to Nimbus and gave him a playful nudge. "But you're sure you wouldn't rather go alone with her?"

Nimbus flushed, as indignant as he was embarrassed, and Tycho sank down lower into his nest. "_No_, Cumulus, I only want to go so I can take Tycho."

"Okay, okay," Cumulus chuckled. "I can handle the girl then."

"What about me?" wailed Cirrus. "Maaaa!"

"All right, Cirrus," Ebru sighed. "All four of you can go, as long as you stay together before you get there and after you leave." She didn't seem too pleased about it, although she smiled when Cirrus thanked her profusely and hugged her tightly. Tycho mumbled his own thanks from his nest, but he sounded unenthusiastic.

Soon after, the family went to bed; they had had a long day at the market and would spend just as long there tomorrow, buying supplies with the money they'd made. Nimbus climbed into his nest and looked over at Tycho's bed. The Dark Matter made no move to join him; apparently, he wanted to sleep by himself. Nimbus couldn't even see him over the nest's edge.

Nimbus turned away and huddled down into his own nest. _He doesn't want to nest with me,_ he thought, burying his eye in his blanket. He didn't know what else he could say to Tycho to convince him that Nimbus only wanted to be with him. _Maybe that's not the problem, though,_ the Kracko thought. _Maybe __**he**__ doesn't want to be with __**me**__ anymore._

Nimbus passed most of the night in sleeplessness, finally dozing off in the early morning. It took Ebru several tries to wake him the next day, although Tycho was just as hard to wake. Nimbus thought that the white of his large eye looked unusually red, but Tycho soon changed to his other form, which hid it.

After breakfast, Ebru gathered up the family's combined proceeds from the day before; today they would go back to the market, this time to purchase rather than sell. Although they were for the most part self-sufficient, the Krackos had to buy some few of their supplies. Even after contributing half of what he had earned selling his headbands, Nimbus had just enough money left to buy a new journal.

However, Ebru turned to him when they left the inn. "Cirrus and Cumulus can help me in the market. Why don't you take Tycho to the library today? You know how excited he was about seeing the books."

Nimbus looked down, certain that Tycho wouldn't want to be alone with him. "Well, I was going to buy a journal-"

"Get it tomorrow!" Cirrus interrupted. "You'll have all day to shop then!" Even Cumulus nodded, making Nimbus suspect that his family was plotting something.

_Did they notice how we're acting?_ he wondered. _It's like they're trying to get us alone together._

Finally, he capitulated with, "All right. If Tycho wants to go."

The Dark Matter had been dawdling along behind the family, but once he caught up with them, he agreed to go to the library. His eye even brightened with excitement at the thought of all the books awaiting him there, and he looked more like himself again.

Still, he and Nimbus spoke little once they separated from the family and headed to the library on the eastern side of Mirovias. The library was a large, elegant building with Doric columns lining its front. Most eye-catching, though, was the statue in front of the building; it depicted a giant stack of books, each one carved from a different color of marble. Tycho looked up at it in amazement as they passed on their way to the large, polished wooden doors that led inside the building.

"The library has books in several different languages," Nimbus whispered once they were inside the cavernous main room. Aisle after aisle of shelves stretched before them, while the reference desk, staffed by several Cappies and one bossy-looking Cret, was on their right. Nimbus pointed to the left-most aisles of books with an appendage. "The cloud script section is over there."

"Okay. . . ." Tycho hung back shyly until Nimbus started over to the shelves, then the Dark Matter followed him.

Tycho relaxed once they were among the books, hidden from the staff and other patrons by the tall shelves. In fact, the only other creature in the cloud script section was a dark elder Kracko with impeccably-groomed, deep grey fluff. He was obviously wealthy judging from his attire: he wore a silk top hat and a monocle, and he carried a cane in one appendage. He was engrossed in perusing the titles surrounding him, but he did give Nimbus and Tycho a polite nod when they passed.

There were a few tables interspersed between the rows of shelving, and Tycho soon had several books spread out upon one of these as he sat in a chair before them. He had cheered up considerably, which had in turn made Nimbus feel brighter. Still, every time he remembered Tycho sleeping apart from him, a heavy feeling like a growing hail stone settled into Nimbus' middle.

"Look at this," Tycho breathed as he pored over a lavishly illustrated atlas of Kracko anatomy. "It's all pictures of Krackos!"

"Um, yes," Nimbus said, a little embarrassed. Tycho hadn't seen anything untoward yet- he was still on the section detailing the structure and function of spikes- but the book still made Nimbus nervous. The Dark Matter looked at one image of a spike, then reached out a hand to tug one of Nimbus' appendages closer, carefully studying Nimbus' own spike. Nimbus had to giggle a little at the Dark Matter's intensity. Tycho glanced up at him, then smiled with his eye. Nimbus felt like the hail stone inside him melted a little.

But then to his dismay, Tycho flipped through the book, and it fell open to a section describing the Kracko body, particularly under their dense layers of fluff. He peered at a pair of illustrations, one female and one male, of fluff-less Krackos.

"Is this what you'd look like if all your fluff was pulled off?" Tycho asked.

"W-well. . . like this one." Nimbus shyly pointed at the male Kracko. "That's a boy Kracko. The other one's a girl."

"Ooh." Tycho stared at the picture as Nimbus' face grew hotter and hotter. "I guess you'd be a lot smaller. And wow, his eye looks huge, and so do those spikes!"

"Well, they have to reach all the way through our fluff to the outside." Nimbus tensed, waiting for the inevitable questions about the rest of the illustrated Kracko's anatomy, as Tycho looked from the male to the female and back again.

"Why does the female look different?" the Dark Matter finally asked.

"She uh. . . um, females have to be able to feed baby Krackos, so they have. . . parts that males don't. And we males have. . . um. . . parts the females don't."

"Oh. So Cirrus and Ebru look like that under their fluff, but you and Cumulus look like this?"

"Yes," Nimbus mumbled. To his immense relief, Tycho seemed satisfied, and he closed the book. Then he turned to look up at Nimbus from his chair.

"Nimbus," he began, hesitating, but another voice made him break off.

"Excuse me, young sirs." Flushing brightly, Nimbus turned at the deep, rumbling voice to see the older Kracko he had noticed earlier. The dark Kracko was floating behind them, a polite distance away. "I'm sorry to intrude, but. . . did I hear you mention a lady by the name of Ebru?"

Nimbus hesitated, finding it suspicious that a stranger would be asking about someone with his mother's name. Unfortunately, Tycho piped up right away.

"Yes sir! She's our- well, Nimbus' mother." A slight blush rose under his eye-shield. "Sorry, I sort of feel like she's my mother too because she's so nice to me."

The grey Kracko didn't seem to have heard the second statement; he was looking at Nimbus with an oddly wistful look in his eye. "Your mother. . . ? And your name is Nimbus. . . ."

"Erm, yes sir." Nimbus studied him as he asked carefully, "Do you know her?"

"I. . . believe so. At least, I knew a young lady named Ebru many years ago. She used to live here in Mirovias."

"She's in the city now!" Tycho blurted out. "We came here with her and-"

"Tycho!" Nimbus hissed, nudging him with an appendage. Tycho turned to blink at him in confusion, then he blushed all over again when he realized Nimbus wanted him to be quiet.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the older Kracko interrupted with a gentle chuckle. "I don't blame you for being suspicious- it's good to watch out for yourself here in the city. I suppose I should tell you who I am." He turned away a little, looking down at Tycho's stack of books on the table. "My name is Bora. I. . . I'm your mother's father, if she's the Ebru I think she is."

Nimbus felt slightly dizzy as his face prickled beneath his fluff. Ebru had told her children- gently, without bitterness or rancor- of how her wealthy parents had disapproved of her engagement to the fortuneless light Kracko Stratus. Her parents promised to disown her if she married Stratus, so after they were wed, the couple had left Mirovias without seeing Ebru's parents again. Other than to tell each child the story when she or he was old enough to understand, Ebru never mentioned her parents. Nimbus didn't even know their names.

"Then you're my grandfather?" Nimbus asked softly, somehow immediately certain that there could only be one Ebru. Nimbus wasn't sure how to feel : he assumed that he was supposed to be angry or to otherwise reject his grandfather, yet he couldn't bring himself to feel much of anything besides curiosity.

"Yes." Bora turned back to him, smiling at him kindly with his maroon eye. "Tell me, are you her only child?"

"Oh, no- I have an older brother and a younger sister." When Bora's eye brightened at hearing he had other grandchildren, Nimbus began to feel better about him. "Cirrus- that's my sister- is white like me, but my brother Cumulus looks kind of like you. He's a dark Kracko, and he has a red eye too."

"And who is this young gentleman?" Bora asked, nodding at Tycho, who hadn't spoken since Nimbus had shushed him. Tycho looked at Nimbus for permission to speak, making the Kracko feel guilty for silencing him before.

"It's okay," Nimbus whispered, stroking his shoulder with an appendage.

"My name is Tycho," the Dark Matter finally told Bora. "I'm Nimbus'. . . best friend."

"He lives with us," Nimbus added. "That's why he kind of thinks of Ma as his mother." He smiled as he thought about his mother's fondness for Tycho. "And if you asked her, she'd probably say he's like another son to her."

"It's an honor to meet you, Tycho." Bora tipped his hat to the Dark Matter, who beamed with pride. _But_ _I wonder what he'd think if he knew Tycho was a Dark Matter,_ Nimbus thought.

Bora turned back to Nimbus and asked with a bit of hesitation, "And. . . what about your father, Stratus?" Nimbus tensed nervously, wondering what emotions lay behind that question. Would Bora be glad that Stratus was dead?

"He. . . he was killed several years ago," Nimbus finally murmured. "Someone attacked him while he was hunting."

To Nimbus' surprise, Bora's face fell, his eye even growing a bit misty. "Oh, I'm so sorry, my boy. I had hoped that. . . that one day I might be able to tell him. . . ." He turned away to compose himself and went on quietly, "I wanted to tell him how sorry I am and to give their union my. . . my blessing. I know they didn't need it, but. . . ."

"I think Ma would really be happy to hear that." Part of Nimbus wanted to take Bora to see Ebru right then and there, but he knew that such an action could turn out to be a terrible mistake. For all he knew, Ebru's silence about her parents masked hatred- although Nimbus couldn't imagine his mother hating _anyone_.

"Well. . . perhaps in time," Bora rumbled softly, then he turned back to them and asked more cheerfully. "Now then, what were you two researching here?"

"Nimbus was showing me some Kracko books," Tycho explained. "I'm very curious about what it's like to be a Kracko! In fact. . . ." He gave a little sigh. "I wish I _were_ a Kracko."

"Hmm, I see." Bora shuffled through the books absently. "But why do you want to be a Kracko?"

"I. . . I think Krackos are so much nicer looking than I am!" Tycho told him. "And I want to be able to do everything Nimbus can do."

"Well, young man, there is always going to be someone better-looking or more powerful," Bora said, smiling down at him. "But I'll wager there's no one else just like you, or me, or Nimbus here. . . and that there are plenty of people who like you just the way you are."

"Yeah," Nimbus echoed, glancing up at his grandfather. "I keep telling him that."

"In any case, it looks as if you've both been working hard. Why don't you take some time off for lunch?" Bora boomed. "My home is nearby, and I'd love to have you drop in for a visit!"

"Oh, um. . . ." Nimbus looked at Tycho, unsure of what to do. He was fairly sure that Bora really was who he claimed to be; after all, he had known the name of Nimbus' father. Still, there was always a chance that this could be a mistake.

"I think it'd be okay," Tycho said softly, in answer to Nimbus' look.

"A-all right. Thank you very much," Nimbus told Bora, giving him an awkward little bow.

Bora seemed genuinely pleased. "Excellent! Here, you can just leave those books for the librarian to reshelf." He gestured with his cane for the two of them to follow him as he floated towards the front doors. "I certainly want to get to know my grandson better!"

As they moved down a wide, cobblestoned street that led through eastern Mirovias, Nimbus admired Bora's bearing and attire. He found himself wanting to get to know the elder Kracko better, too.

"Is my grandmother still alive?" Nimbus asked him after a moment of internal debate. He didn't want to upset Bora if the answer was no, but he was also curious, as Bora hadn't mentioned her.

"Ah. . . yes, yes she is. Her name is Aella. She and I divorced a few years ago." Bora gave a little sigh, which sounded almost more embarrassed than mournful. "She no longer lives in Mirovias, though. In fact, that was one of our differences: I like this bustling city life, but she wanted a place in the country."

"O-oh," Nimbus stammered, ashamed to have brought up what was apparently a delicate subject. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. . . to pry."

"Oh, no, don't feel bad, my boy," Bora reassured him with a little chuckle. "It wasn't a contentious divorce at all; it's just a bit embarrassing to have to admit to. And I don't know how I would explain it to your mother, after all the blustering I did about being sure of oneself before marrying!" He smiled down at Nimbus gently as they floated along. "But rest assured, Aella feels the same way as I do about Ebru: we both love her dearly, and we're both terribly sorry for what we did to drive her away."

Tycho too looked up at the dark Kracko. "Mr. Bora. . . . what does 'divorce' mean?"

"Oh. . . it's when a couple doesn't want to be together anymore, and they separate," Bora explained. Tycho's golden and red eye widened behind its guard.

"That. . . that happens? Couples can quit loving each other?"

"Well, sometimes." Bora seemed a little bemused at the Tycho's surprise; even Nimbus was a bit startled despite understanding that the inexperienced Dark Matter might be idealistic.

"Why? What would make that happen?" Tycho persisted.

"It happens for different reasons, my boy," said Bora. "Sometimes people have. . . certain expectations when they form a union. Then when those don't come to pass, there's nothing left of the relationship." He sighed again, then went on, "But then sometimes a divorce is a bit more volatile, especially if one or both of the partners is angry about something. And sometimes a couple quits trusting one another- even if there's no reason at all for it."

Tycho stopped dead in his path, staring up at Bora's broad, fluffy back as the elder Kracko floated on. The Dark Matter reached out a hand to catch one of Nimbus' appendages, stopping him too.

"What is it?" Nimbus asked.

"N-nimbus. . . ." Tycho looked down unhappily. "You. . . you won't ever divorce me, will you? If you quit loving me, I- I'd just die!"

"Tycho!" Nimbus turned to grasp Tycho's shoulders in his appendages. "I'll never quit loving you, I _promise_." He hugged the Dark Matter tightly, not caring that a few passers-by gave them odd looks. He knew he was being idealistic too- after all, he was sure that Bora and Aella never suspected that they would separate either, when they were young and in love. _But I won't leave him ever, I won't!_ Nimbus swore to himself. _I'll work as hard as I can to make us both happy and to keep us together!_

"And I'll always love you, too," Tycho whispered. He held Nimbus against him, stroking his fluff with one hand, then he gently pulled back enough to look into Nimbus' eye. "I- oh Nimbus, I'm so sorry that I-I didn't trust you! I know that you don't care anything about that girl, but. . . but I just wanted you to tell me that, over and over! And l-last night, when you didn't ask me to nest with you. . . ."

A bit confused, Nimbus murmured, "Tycho, I. . . I thought you wanted to be alone. I was up all night, missing you."

"I'm sorry," Tycho said again, almost in a wail. He wrapped both arms around Nimbus and hugged him close, nuzzling his fluff. "Please, I don't ever want to sleep alone again! I cried all night!"

"Shh, it's okay," whispered Nimbus. "It was just a misunderstanding. I still love you, Tycho, and I'm not going to. . . ah, divorce you." He eye-kissed Tycho's face over and over until the Dark Matter calmed down and even smiled a little.

"Okay. . . and I promise I won't ever divorce you either!" He gave Nimbus several kisses in return, but when the Dark Matter raised his head again, he made a little embarrassed noise. "Oh!"

Nimbus turned to find Bora stopped several yards ahead, waiting on them. Both blushing, Nimbus and Tycho hurried to catch up, although the elder Kracko only chuckled indulgently at them. As they traveled on, Nimbus realized that he had forgotten to explain to Tycho that a couple had to be married before they divorced, but he supposed that it wasn't too important.

However, once he had the idea of marriage in his head, it was hard to forget. Nimbus glanced at Tycho out of the corner of his eye. _What if we did get married? We wouldn't really live any differently, but. . . but we would be together before Zakkiel then, and it would show Tycho that I really do want to be with him forever. . . ._ Still, Nimbus didn't know if two males, or two creatures of different species for that matter, even _could_ get married. It certainly wasn't anything he'd heard of in his own small settlement, but then, maybe things were different in the less conservative city.

_Maybe Grandfather could tell me,_ Nimbus thought, looking up at Bora shyly. _. . . . If I can be brave enough to ask!_


	4. Chapter 4

When Bora, Nimbus, and Tycho reached the outskirts of Mirovias, Bora interrupted Nimbus' thoughts. "This is where I live." The large grey Kracko gestured towards a small, domed observatory. "Most of the building is for my books and my instruments, but I managed to make a little living space there too," he chuckled.

Bora led Nimbus and Tycho up to his door, then he hesitated and turned to look down at them. "I. . . suppose I should let you know, I don't live completely alone. Sometimes my partner, Altamira, lives here too. He spends a lot of time traveling for his research, but he stays with me when he's on Pop Star."

_Partner? _Nimbus wondered. Did Bora mean that he had a male lover too, or did he mean "partner" in a working relationship? Nimbus only nodded politely, not wanting to ask what could be considered a rude question. Still, he felt a bit better about his grandfather witnessing his affectionate cuddling with Tycho.

Bora opened the door for them and followed them in to a great, domed room filled with books, papers, and scientific instruments. Tycho looked around in wonder, blinking his eye behind its shield.

"Oh, Mr. Bora! This is amazing! You. . . you _own_ all this?" the Dark Matter gaped.

"Yes, of course!" Bora rumbled, then he looked at Nimbus, and his cheerful expression faded. At Tycho's question, Nimbus had grimaced with a mixture of guilt and embarrassment that their own house was very poor compared to Bora's majestic home. Nimbus glanced up at his grandfather, ashamed, and found Bora watching him with a look of embarrassment of his own.

"Er, of course, because I've had a long life to amass such a collection," Bora amended as he patted one of Nimbus' appendages gently.

Tycho floated over to a telescope and looked at it with interest. "What's this for?" Before Bora had a chance to answer, the Dark Matter had turned to a shelf of other instruments Nimbus didn't recognize. "And what about these?"

Bora chuckled and drifted away from Nimbus to the back of the domed room where a doorway led to the rest of the house. "I'll show you around in a bit, but first, I'd like you to meet my partner." He opened the door and called through, "Alta! Are you home?"

"Oh, Bora! Is that you already?" a voice returned happily from the other room. "I thought you'd be gone all day!"

"We have some guests," added Bora.

"Lovely!" Altamira came into the room, but Nimbus didn't hear anything else he said; he was too preoccupied with staring at his grandfather's partner. When Tycho saw the figure who appeared, the Dark Matter gave a little wail and tried to hide behind Nimbus, despite being taller than the Kracko in his current form.

For a moment, Nimbus was sure that Altamira was actually Zero Two. The bulbous white body, the large feathered wings, the spiky tail and halo, all were the same. Nimbus tensed up and prepared to defend his lover, certain that Zero Two had come to reclaim Tycho.

But then, Nimbus realized that this wasn't Zero Two at all. The eye that looked down at them, filled with a bewildered and hurt expression at their reactions, was a soft blue rather than red. Altamira's wings were likewise tipped with navy feathers instead of maroon, and he wore no bandage under his halo. Most different of all, Altamira was roughly Bora's size, much smaller than Zero Two had been, and he was clothed in a toga.

"Is something wrong?" Bora asked, turning to Nimbus and Tycho when they didn't greet Altamira. His maroon eye widened in concern behind his monocle at their frightened expressions. "Nimbus-?"

"Oh- n-no, I'm sorry!" Nimbus stammered and shook himself, ashamed at his reaction to Altamira. "Please, forgive me, Mr. Altamira." He gave a little bow and looked up at the white creature apologetically. "You just reminded me of- of someone I knew." Behind him, Tycho let out a shaky sigh, finally understanding that this wasn't Zero Two. Nimbus felt the Dark Matter's hand close over one of his appendages in relief.

"It's all right." Altamira gave a little dip of his wings in return, and he smiled gently at Nimbus with his blue eye. "I was just afraid that I had frightened you somehow!" Tycho slunk out from behind Nimbus to study Altamira intently, though he still clung to Nimbus' fluff.

"Altamira, this is my grandson, Nimbus," Bora explained, floating a little closer to the feathered eye.

"Your grandson? You mean, your daughter's. . . ?" Altamira looked at the elder Kracko, his eye brightening.

"Yes! She's here, in Mirovias!"

"Oh, Bora. . . ." Altamira flicked his tail up to brush its tip against the fluff on Bora's cheek, and Nimbus's face grew hot as realized that they were far from being just business partners. "Have you seen. . . ?"

"Ah, no," Bora mumbled. "We'll. . . see about that. But first I wanted to show Nimbus and his friend Tycho around the observatory."

"Oh of course! It's very nice to meet both of you." Altamira bowed to each of them. Nimbus watched to see if he gave Tycho any special notice: what if all of his species could control Dark Matter? However, he only smiled at Tycho politely with his eye then turned back to Bora. "I'll go make some lunch for all of us while you give them a tour."

Bora nodded and watched him go with a fond look in his eye, then he drifted over to his telescope. "Tycho, this is a telescope. When the dome is open at night, you can look through here and see the stars up close!"

"Wow!" Tycho, much more relaxed now that Altamira was gone from the room, hurried over to examine the telescope. "How many stars can you see?"

Bora chuckled. "Thousands and thousands of stars are visible from here. You can also see all the other planets of our solar system. If you'd like to stay until evening, you can use it."

"Aww, I wish we could, but we're going to a party tonight." Tycho looked over his shoulder at Nimbus. "Nimbus, do you think we could come back tomorrow night?"

"Uh, we'll see." Nimbus went over to them and hovered close to Tycho.

"Mr. Bora, can you see Dark Star with this telescope?" Tycho asked in a quieter voice.

"Dark Star?" Bora looked down at them, blinking. "Well, not anymore. It's gone now, but- well, frankly, I'm surprised you even know that it existed in the first place! It's impossible to see with the naked eye, so only a few astronomers have heard of it."

Tycho didn't seem to be listening. "It's- it's gone?" Nimbus was worried by Tycho's sad expression, and he stroked the Dark Matter's back comfortingly. Tycho glanced up at him and whispered, "Dark Star, it. . . it's where I'm from."

"Oh. . . ." Remembering his one brief visit to Tycho's home, Nimbus had to wonder why that fact upset Tycho. Dark Star had not been a pleasant place.

"Yes, it happened a few weeks ago," Bora answered Tycho's question. "I didn't see it myself, but one of my colleagues happened to be observing Dark Star that night. She said that Dark Star seemed to evaporate, right before her eyes. Well, as much as she could see it, anyway," he amended. "If you're familiar with it, I suppose you know that it reflects no light. With a telescope, it can only be observed when another light-reflecting celestial body passes behind it; then we could see Dark Star eclipsing the other body. Fortunately, this was the case when my colleague was observing it, and she saw Dark Star's silhouette dissolve. She described it as if little pieces flew off of the planet, until it had dwindled into nothing."

"I. . . I see," Tycho murmured.

_I wonder what happened, _thought Nimbus. _What was it made of, if it fell apart like that? And. . . what happened to Zero Two?_ He resolved to wait and ask Tycho later, in case any of the answers to his questions would reveal Tycho's true nature to Bora.

Bora was watching Tycho intently. "You must have quite an interest in astronomy if you knew about Dark Star."

"Oh, I. . . um, yes, I do." Tycho looked up at him. "But I didn't know that a planet could just disappear!"

"Well, normally, they don't!" Bora chuckled. He still looked slightly bemused, but he turned to some of his other instruments instead of questioning Tycho further. "Here, come take a look at the rest of my equipment, then we can have some lunch."

After Bora had shown them an array of instruments and equipment, he took them to a small room whose walls were lined with windows overlooking an elaborate garden behind the observatory. Altamira was seated there at a patio table; he had already laid out four place settings with bread, cheese, and dried fruit. Nimbus and Tycho perched on chairs on one side of the table, but Bora looked at Altamira without sitting down.

"Altamira, could you come with me for a moment?" the elder Kracko asked softly.

"Certainly." Altamira nodded at their two guests. "You two go right ahead and eat! We'll be right back." He flapped out of the room after Bora, leaving Nimbus and Tycho alone.

"I wonder what they're talking about," Nimbus muttered, fearing that it had something to do with Tycho and Dark Star.

"I dunno." Tycho looked down at his plate. "I guess you can have my lunch."

Nimbus picked up a piece of cheese from his own plate and nibbled at it. "Hey, this is really good!" He looked at Tycho. "Why were you asking about Dark Star? I think it made Grandfather a little. . . curious about you."

"Sorry." Tycho gave a small sigh. "I just was wondering what Zero Two and the other Dark Matter were doing, if they were still collecting the crystals. But. . . I guess not." His red and golden eye looked sad, which Nimbus couldn't really understand- especially considering how frightened Tycho had seemed when he first saw Altamira. Somehow, he still cared about his former master, as much as Zero Two scared him.

"What do you think happened to Dark Star?" Nimbus asked, hoping he sounded judicious despite not understanding Tycho's feelings. The last thing he wanted was to upset the Dark Matter after they had just made up.

"It was made of Dark Matter," murmured Tycho. "Zero Two held them together with his power, to make a home for himself and all of us. He always told us that if he were destroyed, Dark Star would be too. Something- something must have happened to him."

Nimbus couldn't bring himself to lie and say he was sorry. Instead, he reached out an appendage and stroked Tycho's cheek. "I'm glad you're okay. If anything happened to you, I. . . I couldn't stand it."

Tycho looked at him gratefully and nuzzled his appendage. "I guess the Dark Matter who weren't on Dark Star all survived- or else it's because he freed me. But either way, I'm glad I'm still here with you too." He leaned over to flutter his eyelid against Nimbus' cheek, making the Kracko blush happily.

The Dark Matter gave Nimbus his food, which was delicious; the Kracko felt sorry that Tycho couldn't taste it. Bora and Altamira were gone so long, Nimbus had nearly finished both plates by the time they returned.

"Ah, I see you enjoyed Altamira's meal," Bora chuckled as he settled down into his chair opposite Nimbus. Altamira sat beside Bora, curling his tail around one chair leg as he began to eat daintily. Nimbus was surprised to see that the feathered creature had a small mouth under his eye; the mouth was invisible until he opened it to eat.

"Yes, it was very good," Nimbus agreed. "Thank you, Mr. Altamira."

"Oh, you're welcome!" Altamira lifted a wing to pat Bora on the back. "You go ahead and eat too, my dear." Bora smiled at him and obeyed, although he looked a bit distracted.

After lunch, Nimbus and Tycho offered to clear the table. Tycho easily picked up the dishes with his hands, while Nimbus had to work to balance the serving platters in his appendages.

"See, you're better off not being a Kracko!" Nimbus teased as they carried the dishes to Bora's small, tidy kitchen. "You have hands."

"Not always," Tycho whispered when they were in the kitchen. As they went back to the sun porch, Tycho suddenly dug his fingertips into Nimbus' fluff, tickling him. "Although, I _can_ do this!"

Nimbus dissolved into giggles, although the fact that Bora and Altamira could see them made him blush. "S-stop, Tycho! That t-tickles!"

Tycho giggled himself then relented and hugged Nimbus tightly instead. He gave a little sigh as he laid his cheek against the Kracko's top. "I still wish I were like you, though." Nimbus reached up an appendage to stroke his hand.

"Tycho. . ." Bora said thoughtfully. "You really do want to be a Kracko, don't you?"

"Oh, ah. . . ." Tycho let go of Nimbus and straightened up, flushing a bit. "I. . . yes, I do."

"Hm. Come back into the observatory, boys. . . . I have something to show you." Bora floated towards the main room, beckoning to them with an appendage. As they followed, Altamira drifted after them.

"There _is_ one being who is said to be able to grant wishes," Bora said to Tycho when they all had gathered around a large table in the observatory. "Just a moment, let me find. . . ." Bora trailed off as he floated up and down the shelves of books that lined the walls. "Ah, here it is!" He pulled a book off the shelf and carried it down to the table. Bora opened the book and leafed through the pages with his spike, flipping past various astronomical charts and diagrams.

"Here," the elder Kracko said as he reached the page he wanted. He tapped at the illustration there with one spike, then turned the book to face Nimbus and Tycho. Looking down at it, Nimbus saw a fantastic creature there. In Nimbus' limited experience, it most resembled the pocket watches he had seen in expensive Mirovian stores. Various appendages of mechanical items extended from its sides, and it possessed a peaceful face with beautiful crystal blue eyes and a slight smile.

"This is NOVA," Bora told them, "the great comet. I've always heard that he will grant a single wish to one who travels into space to visit him. I've seen him myself through my telescope."

"But. . . Mr. Bora, haven't you been to see him in person?" Tycho asked. "Since you're an astronomer, wouldn't you want to visit a comet?"

"Er, well. . . ." Bora flushed slightly. "For one thing, the path to NOVA is quite dangerous; otherwise, almost _everyone_ would be popping off to see him. But. . . but also, I'm, well, rather frightened of traveling in space." He sighed softly. "I've only been up there a few times with Altamira, but. . . I haven't had the courage to go to see NOVA."

"Space travel isn't that scary," Tycho reassured him, making Nimbus cringe. Admitting that he had been into space was certainly not the best thing Tycho could do to keep his identity hidden. Nimbus hoped that Bora and Altamira would assume that Tycho was only guessing, but the grey Kracko looked down at the Dark Matter in surprise.

"Why, have you been into space, Tycho?" Bora asked.

Tycho blinked up at him then flushed as he realized his mistake. "I, uh. . . ." He looked to Nimbus for help, but Nimbus could only shrug his appendages. Finally Tycho went on, "Yes, I'm not from Pop Star. I. . . traveled through space a long way to get here."

"I see," Bora murmured.

"So did I," Altamira spoke for the first time in a while, giving Tycho a kindly look with his blue eye. "Tycho, don't worry about being different from Nimbus. I'm quite different from Bora, as you can see, and we're very happy nevertheless."

Tycho nodded, but Nimbus could tell from his expression that he didn't think Altamira understood. Tycho looked up at the feathered creature then asked, "How did you get here, if you came through space?"

"I have a ship," Altamira told him, looking a bit confused. "It's possible for me to fly here from my world without one, but it's much more pleasant traveling by ship."

"If you have a ship, could you fly Nimbus and me to see NOVA?"

"Tycho!" Nimbus blurted out, startled by both Tycho's bluntness and the fact that he was seriously considering visiting the comet. "We couldn't impose like that-"

"Oh, I wouldn't mind at all," Altamira reassured them. "But Tycho, you should think about this carefully. As Bora said, the journey is difficult, but more importantly. . . you need to consider whether you _really_ want to change yourself so completely, should NOVA choose to grant your wish."

"I know I want to be a Kracko!" Tycho protested. "I don't need to consider that at all!" Nimbus worried that Altamira might be offended at Tycho's impertinence, but Altamira only cast him a sympathetic look.

"Nevertheless, I will give you time to think about your decision," Altamira said gently. "One can't just go popping off to visit NOVA, anyhow. I'll need some time to plot a course- with Bora's help, since I'm not so familiar with Pop Star's astronomy." He looked at Bora with a little smile in his eye, but the elder Kracko looked unhappy.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have suggested this," he rumbled to Altamira in a low voice.

"No, it's okay, Grandfather," Nimbus tried to reassure him, then he looked at Tycho. "I. . . I want Tycho to be happy." _Even if I love him the way he is._

"Well, you two can think about it," Altamira told them. "It will be an interesting exercise planning our journey, whatever you decide. . . and perhaps Bora would want to go anyway if you decide against it!"

Bora chuckled. "I'll work on building up my courage in the meantime." The grey Kracko turned back to Nimbus and Tycho, smiling at them. "You just send word when you make up your minds. I would love to hear from you in any case."

Without mail service to his little settlement, Nimbus wasn't sure how he and Tycho could get in contact with Bora without coming back to Mirovias themselves, but he decided to worry about that later. Instead, he looked up at Bora shyly.

"Um, Grandfather. . . would you like to see Ma? She'll be home from shopping this evening. We kids are going to that party, so. . . ."

Bora lowered his eyelid halfway over his maroon eye and gave a small sigh. "No, I. . . don't think that would be wise, just yet. But there _is_ something you can do for me, Nimbus." He turned and floated over to a shelf, where he picked up a piece of paper rolled into a cylinder and tied with a ribbon. "While you were eating, I. . . wrote this for your mother. Could you give it to her?"

Bora held out the scroll in one appendage for Nimbus to take. Nimbus swallowed hard but took it with a nod. He didn't like having to be a messenger between Bora and Ebru, but he was also glad in a way. At least this way, he _had_ to tell Ebru about meeting her father; Nimbus wouldn't have to make up his mind about whether to keep it a secret.

"I'll give it to her, Grandfather."

"Thank you, my boy." Bora smiled down at him, then drifted closer to pat him affectionately. "I'm sure she's quite proud of you. And you too, Tycho," he added, giving the Dark Matter a pat on his spiky head. "Both of you are very good boys."

"Th-thank you, Mr. Bora," Tycho said, blushing proudly.

"We'd better start back to the inn," said Nimbus, not wanting to outstay their welcome. He briefly considered asking Bora his question about marriage in Mirovias, but he was still too shy to do it- especially with Altamira there. _Maybe some other time. . . ._

Bora nodded. "You two are welcome here any time, you know. Right, Altamira?"

Altamira smiled with his eye and fluttered over to them. "Of course. Do you think you'll be able to visit again while you're here in the city?"

"I'm not sure," Nimbus admitted. "Tomorrow we have to do our shopping, then we have to go home the next day. We could try to come by tomorrow night if Ma'll let us go out, but. . . but we'll come back the next time we're in Mirovias, for sure!"

"Yeah!" Tycho piped up, looking at Altamira admiringly; he seemed to have finally gotten over his fear of the feathered creature. "I. . . I'd like to see you again! And maybe we can go see NOVA."

Altamira and Bora floated to the door with Nimbus and Tycho and each gave them a goodbye embrace. Tycho looked back over his shoulder as they left.

"They're both really nice," the Dark Matter murmured. "Do you think they're. . . um, like you and I are?"

"You mean a couple?" Nimbus chuckled and slipped an appendage into Tycho's hand. "It looks like it. I wonder what Ma will think about that."

"I wonder what she'll think about us visiting Mr. Bora at all," mumbled Tycho. "I hope she isn't mad."

"Me too." Nimbus had been worrying about Tycho wanting to visiting NOVA, but now he was reminded of the letter he still clutched in one appendage. Ebru's potential reaction to that was a lot more worrisome at the moment.


	5. Chapter 5

When Tycho and Nimbus got back to the inn, their room was empty, as the rest of the Krackos were still out shopping. Nimbus opened his little mouth wide in a yawn as he floated into the room.

"I could use a nap," he mumbled, blinking his large eye. "I told you, I didn't sleep too well last night!"

"Me either. Can we take a nap while the others are gone?"

Nimbus floated over to his nest and settled in, tucking Bora's letter to Ebru under his pillow. "Sure. They'll probably be back around an hour before sundown," he mumbled as he looked up at Tycho. "That means we've got a couple hours to rest, then when the others get back, we can get ready for the party."

"Okay." Tycho turned back into his spherical body and drifted over to the nest before blinking up at Nimbus. "I. . . I can nest with you. . . ?"

"Of course!" Nimbus reached out two appendages to Tycho, catching him and pulling him into the nest. "I don't ever want to sleep without you again!" He covered the little Dark Matter's face with kisses then tugged the blanket over them both. Tycho gave a happy sigh and snuggled against Nimbus' fluff.

"I love you, Nimbus," he mumbled.

"I love you too," Nimbus whispered. He folded his appendages around Tycho's little round body. _He __**is**__ handsome in his other form, but I like this one best, _Nimbus decided. _I love being able to hold him. . . ._

Nimbus dozed off cradling Tycho, and neither awoke until the rest of the Krackos had returned from the market. Cirrus' cooing over how cute they looked woke both Nimbus and Tycho up; the Dark Matter grumbled and tried to burrow deeper into his Kracko mattress.

"Hey, get up," Nimbus chuckled, nudging him. "We have to get ready to go to the party."

"You'd better hurry!" Cirrus chided them both. "It's almost sunset already!" Nimbus rolled his eye and got out of his nest to stretch his appendages. As he wasn't interested in impressing anyone besides Tycho, Nimbus didn't need much time to get ready; he ran a comb through his fluff and put on a headband before carefully tying on Tycho's ribbon. Tycho transformed back into his humanoid form with a little sigh.

"I'm getting tired of keeping this form up," he complained.

"Just one more day," Cirrus promised even as Cumulus harrumphed.

"If you're going to whine about it, you're staying here!" he grumbled as he put on some spike cuffs. "I want to have a good time with that cute little Kracko!"

Nimbus had tuned out the bickering; he was too busy worrying about how Ebru would respond to Bora's letter. He finally worked up the nerve to give it to her when the others were almost ready to leave. Nimbus tugged the letter out from under his pillow then floated over to his mother with it.

"Uh, Ma? I. . . have something to give you."

"Oh?" Ebru looked up from her nest where she had been reading a Mirovian newspaper, a rare luxury for the family.

"Here." Nimbus placed the scroll on the edge of her nest. "It. . . it's a letter from. . . from someone I met today."

Confused, Ebru looked down at the letter, then she raised her violet eye to her son. "Who did you meet?"

Nimbus swallowed hard. "I-I think you'd better see for yourself. I don't know what it says, but. . . but he really wanted you to read it."

"All right." She smiled at him although she still looked puzzled. "Have a good time tonight, Nimbus- you and Tycho both."

"Thanks Ma, we will." Nimbus leaned down to give his mother a kiss on the cheek, then he joined Tycho at the door.

"Did you tell her who it was from?" the Dark Matter whispered.

"No. I thought she might not. . . not want to read it if she knew." Tycho nodded and put an arm around Nimbus, squeezing him.

The three Kracko siblings and Tycho set off for the market where they were to meet Rachel and Darius. Cirrus chattered with excitement non-stop, and even Cumulus seemed cheerful- probably at getting to be around a pretty Kracko girl. Nimbus and Tycho hung a few paces back, floating along hand-in-appendage. Nimbus worried that Tycho might end up jealous of Rachel again, but the Dark Matter hardly reacted when they found her and her brother waiting for them at their market stall. Both were wearing the headbands they had bought from Nimbus.

Rachel looked from one Kracko sibling to another. "Um, hi. You're Nimbus' siblings, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm Cirrus!" Cirrus introduced herself cheerfully. "And this is Cumulus, our big brother."

"And you're Rachel, right?" asked Cumulus suavely, floating forward a little. "I saw you yesterday, but unfortunately, we didn't get to speak."

"Y-yes, I'm Rachel, and this is Darius." She stared up at the large dark Kracko a bit nervously then apparently decided Cirrus was less intimidating. "It's great to meet you," Rachel told her, smiling with her eye.

"I hope you don't mind Cirrus and Cumulus coming with us," Nimbus added. "Our mother didn't want Tycho and me to be out on our own after dark."

"No, it's fine!" insisted Rachel.

"Yeah, you guys are really cool," Darius piped up. He too was staring at Cumulus, except his gaze was full of the frankest admiration. Then he turned to Rachel and tugged on one of her appendages. "Come on, let's go! We still have to pick up Priscilla!"

"All right, all right." Rachel motioned for the others to follow them. "She lives nearby, on the edge of our neighborhood."

"Who's Priscilla?" Nimbus asked as they floated along in a group.

"She's Darius' girlfriend-"

"She is _not _my girlfriend!" the little Co-Kracko protested. "We're just friends."

Rachel rolled her eye. "Okay, she's Darius' _friend_. Anyway, she's coming to the party too."

Rachel's neighborhood was near the market, only to the west rather than the south where Nimbus' family was staying. Nimbus looked around to see lanes edged with houses, all smaller than his own. While the houses were neatly kept, they all looked alike and lacked the character of the house Stratus had built.

Darius darted ahead and floated up to one of the houses, where he knocked on the door with a spike. It was opened by a small grey cloud- not a Kracko, Nimbus realized, but a Loud: a much less common species with two little, dark eyes and no spikes. This was apparently Priscilla, for she bobbed up and down in the air excitedly when she answered the door.

After Priscilla came outside, Darius quickly introduced her to the others on the way to the party. The two young clouds floated ahead of the others, and Nimbus decided that if Priscilla weren't Darius' girlfriend, they were very close friends indeed.

The party was held in a large building open inside that normally must be used as a gymnasium. Despite her excitement, Cirrus hung back in the doorway.

"Wow, there's. . . a lot of people here," she murmured. The dimly-lit room held an array of creatures, mostly young Krackos and Waddle-Doos. However, there were a couple other Louds and a few different species as well.

"Yeah, most of them are from our neighborhood," Rachel told her as Darius and Priscilla scampered off into the crowd. "It was all I could do to keep my parents from chaperoning this time. They always want to because they don't like letting Darius and me go out on our own." She rolled her eye and gave a nervous laugh.

"Oh, that's understandable," rumbled Cumulus. "Darius is just a kid, and I can't blame them for worrying about a lovely daughter like you." Rachel blushed visibly under her fluff and turned to Tycho instead.

"And see, there aren't just Krackos here, so you don't have to worry." Tycho nodded and Nimbus patted him on the shoulder with an appendage, deciding that none of the other creatures there were half as handsome as his Dark Matter.

Rachel noticed them touching and kept right on blushing. "So are you two, um. . . t-together? I-I'm sorry, that's kind of rude to ask, but. . . ."

Nimbus blushed a little himself, but he answered proudly, "Yes, Tycho's my. . . my boyfriend." Tycho's eye lit up brilliantly, and he squeezed one of Nimbus' spikes in his hand. The Dark Matter apparently felt more at ease around Rachel than before, for he actually spoke to her.

"We've never been to a party before, so we wanted to know what it was like."

"It's a lot of fun." Rachel glanced at Cirrus. "Do you want to come float around with me? I know some of the neighborhood boys would like to meet you."

Cirrus perked up. "Sure, that sounds great!" She took Rachel's appendage, and the girls floated off together. Cumulus chuckled.

"Boy, is she a cutie!"

"Don't freak her out, Cumulus," Nimbus sighed. "She seems kind of shy."

"Oh, she'll come around!" crowed Cumulus. "But for now, I see a few other girls who need a dance partner!" He grinned with his eye at Nimbus and Tycho. "I'll see you two later. Don't do anything to embarrass me!" Still chuckling to himself, the dark Kracko floated off in pursuit of an especially fluffy girl who had drifted by.

Left alone, Nimbus turned to Tycho and nuzzled him a little. "Do you want to dance together?" he murmured.

Tycho smiled with his eye and reached up a hand to pet Nimbus' side. "I don't know how to dance. . . but I'd love to."

"Oh, it's not hard, at least for us. Species with feet have to do more work." Nimbus put an appendage under Tycho's hand and coaxed him up into the air. "A Kracko would touch his two side appendages to his partner's. . . so I'll put mine on your hands." When they were positioned hand-to-appendage, Nimbus began to drift back and forth, maintaining contact with Tycho's hands. "When I go to my left, you go to yours; then we both go to our rights."

"Okay. . . like this?" Tycho began to move from side to side too, alternating sides with Nimbus. His eye beamed happily. "It's fun!" He swung Nimbus back and forth, making the Kracko chuckle.

"You're good at it!" Nimbus gave him a quick eye-kiss as their faces passed. "There are other kinds of dances too, but this is the easiest. I don't know all the ballroom and other fancy dances."

As they danced a couple more dances, Nimbus noticed that even more people had crowded in. Other couples brushed and jostled the pair, and Tycho began to look a bit nervous. After the current song ended, Nimbus stopped dancing and gently tugged Tycho over to float by the wall.

"Do you want to go outside or something?" Nimbus whispered. "It's getting awfully crowded."

"No, it. . . it might be dangerous. Ebru wouldn't like it." Tycho clutched Nimbus's appendage tightly. "I-I'm just worried- what if someone recognizes me? A-and I can't see Cirrus or Cumulus anywhere! How will we find them?"

Nimbus hadn't even thought of that. He gulped and tried to see his siblings in the dim light, but he didn't recognize any of the Krackos he saw.

"Um. . . I guess I'll have to get out in the middle to see. Are you okay with going out there?" Nimbus asked.

"Yeah, just don't let go of me!" Tycho whimpered. Nimbus held his hand tightly and began to edge his way into the middle of the gymnasium with Tycho beside him.

"I don't see them yet!" he called to Tycho over the music. A few of the nearby couples glared at him for interrupting the song, but Nimbus ignored them. Instead, he and Tycho kept pushing to the center of the crowd.

"Hey, I see Cumulus!" yelled Tycho. "Over-"

"Shut up, ya freak!" a small dark Kracko snapped. "I can't hear the music!" Tycho jumped and huddled close to Nimbus, even though he was bigger than the grumpy Kracko.

"Don't talk to him like that!" Nimbus retorted as he put an appendage around Tycho. "He's not bothering anybody!"

The dark Kracko retorted, "He's bothering me! _And_ my girl. Right, baby?" His partner, a very large light Kracko, nodded emphatically.

"Yeah, what kinda thing are you anyway?" she asked, poking Tycho with a spike. "Besides a loudmouth!"

"Th-that's none of your business!" Tycho replied. His attempt at standing up for himself only angered the male half of the pair, who rounded on him and poked him too.

"_You_ don't talk to _her_ like that!" He grabbed Tycho's cloak and yanked on it, jerking the Dark Matter away from Nimbus. Tycho grappled for Nimbus' appendages, but they were separated. Nimbus tried to follow, but the puffy female forced her way between them.

"You just stay there until my man deals with your snotty little friend!" she bellowed.

"Nimbus!" Tycho wailed miserably. Nimbus caught a glimpse of the anguished look in his eye, and nearly lost it.

"Tycho! Give him back!" Nimbus shoved past the female Kracko, who gave an affronted roar.

"You beast!" She drew back an appendage and whacked Nimbus across the face.

"_Oww!_" he groaned, his eye tearing up.

Tycho shrieked at seeing his lover hurt. "_Nimbus!_" His whole body quivered with outrage- and then the edges of his face began to blur, reminding Nimbus of what Tycho had told him when he first showed this humanoid form: "If I got too distracted. . . I'd change back."

"Oh no, Tycho," Nimbus whispered in a choked voice, but when he tried to move towards Tycho, the female Kracko pushed him back again. That was the last straw for Tycho, and he transformed instantly with a pop. The dark male yelped in surprise to find the tall form he had been shaking changed into a small sphere.

"What the-" The Kracko broke off as he realized just what was now floating in front of him. "D-d-dark Matter!"

At the same time, the puffy female shrieked. "H-he's a Dark Matter! Help, it's a monster-!" She turned away and barreled through the crowd, abandoning her partner in a mad dash for the exit. However, her cry alerted several other creatures nearby, and the warning of "Dark Matter" spread rapidly through the crowd. Tycho had moved back to Nimbus' side and was now huddling against the Kracko's fluff, trembling as person after person turned to stare at him.

As the word spread, the gymnasium quickly emptied, couples leaving as fast as they could to escape the perceived threat. The only benefit was that Cirrus and Cumulus quickly found Nimbus and Tycho- after all, there was only one Dark Matter present at the event. Soon only a handful of on-lookers remained, huddling at the edges of the room to see what would happen. Tycho had begun to cry when Nimbus saw that Rachel, with Darius and Priscilla, was watching them from a safe distance.

"Nimbus?" Rachel asked slowly. "He's a. . . a Dark Matter?" She looked frightened.

"Yes, but he wouldn't hurt anybody!" Nimbus insisted. He stroked Tycho's round, quivering back, but the Dark Matter didn't stop crying.

Then Priscilla drifted forward. The little grey Loud was the same size as Tycho, and she showed no fear as she approached him. In fact, she reached out one of her tiny, puffy appendages and patted him right on the "head."

"Don't cry!" she urged him. "I'm not scared of you. . . . I know you're nice!"

Tycho opened his teary eye and looked at her- but then Darius cried, "Priscilla, come back! He- he's a monster!"

"Darius!" Priscilla scolded, but it was too late. Tycho gave another miserable cry at hearing the word monster, and he pulled free of Nimbus and pelted blindly for the door.

"Tycho, wait!" Nimbus cried, but the Dark Matter was already gone.

"Darius, you big meanie!" Priscilla turned back to the Co-Kracko angrily. "He's not a monster- he never did _anything_ to hurt us!"

"But. . . but. . . ." Darius trailed off, looking up to his big sister for an answer, but Rachel still looked scared herself.

"I have to go find him!" Nimbus declared, trying to fight back tears.

"Not by yourself, you're not!" Cumulus interrupted. "Ma'd kill us if we let you go off by yourself!"

Cirrus nodded. "Yeah, we're coming with you!"

Nimbus was stunned but looked at his siblings gratefully. "Thanks. I. . . I think I know where he went. We met. . . someone today, and. . . well, I'll tell you on the way."

"Okay." Cumulus turned to Rachel. "I'm. . . I'm sorry about this. For ruining you guys' party and everything. Will you be okay taking the kids home?"

Rachel blushed and even managed a small smile with her eye. "Yes, thank you, we'll be fine. Um. . . let me know that you're all okay once you find him, will you? I'll come by the market tomorrow. . . ."

"Sure." Cumulus grinned at her, then he returned to his siblings. "Okay, Nimbus, lead on." He and Cirrus followed Nimbus out the door, with Rachel and the kids behind them. Rachel waved goodbye then started for home with a protective appendage on each child. Nimbus watched them go before turning towards the east.

"I think he went this way. . . ."


	6. Chapter 6

"So just who did you two meet today?" Cumulus growled as they hurried through the streets towards Bora's observatory. He was in a much worse mood once he was away from Rachel. Nimbus swallowed a retort and instead quietly told his siblings about meeting Bora and Altamira. Still, he didn't go into details about the two's relationship, deciding that such information might be a little too much to handle.

"You. . . you really think Bora's our grandfather?" Cirrus asked softly when Nimbus had finished. "After all this time, I thought he would be dead."

"He seems to think he is," Nimbus hedged. "He gave me a note for Ma, and I gave it to her before we left for the party. I guess we'll know when we get back to the inn." _If I can get Tycho to come with us. . . ._ he added silently.

Cumulus responded grumpily. "But why would the little pipsqueak run here? This old guy's not _his_ alleged grandfather."

"I think it's because of something Mr. Altamira told us," murmured Nimbus. He broke off as the observatory came into view. "Oh, here we are!" Looking up at the large dome, he wondered what he would do if they didn't find Tycho there. If the Dark Matter hadn't run to Altamira, Nimbus had no idea where he could be.

"He lives _here?_" Cirrus breathed. She had brightened somewhat to see that their grandfather had such a grand home.

"Yes. Here, let me go to the door." Nimbus floated up to the observatory and depressed the door bell's button with one spike. Cumulus mumbled something to Cirrus in a skeptical tone, but he fell silent when Bora opened the door.

"Oh, Nimbus!" he said, clearly glad to see the young Kracko. "Thank goodness you thought to come here. Your little friend is in quite a state."

"He's here?" Nimbus nearly went weak with relief. "Oh, Grandfather. . . ." He almost hugged Bora before getting a hold of himself.

"Come in, come in. He's with Altamira now." Bora motioned for Nimbus to come in, then for Cirrus and Cumulus to follow. "Nimbus, are these. . . your siblings?"

"Oh, yes! I. . . I told them about you on the way here. I hope you don't mind." Nimbus gestured at them. "This is Cirrus, and this is Cumulus."

"Hello dear," Bora nodded to Cirrus, who gave an awkward sort of curtsey. However, when he turned to Cumulus, Bora's eye softened. For the first time, Nimbus realized how much his big brother looked like their mother.

"You're Ebru's oldest?" asked Bora.

"Yes. . . sir," Cumulus said, a bit reluctantly although he was staring at Bora with barely-disguised wonder. Looking from one of them to the other, Nimbus was certain that they must be related.

Still, he had other things to think about. "Grandfather, where's Tycho?"

"Oh, of course. . . . He and Alta are in the sun room." Bora led the way through the observatory, back to the little room where Tycho and Nimbus had eaten lunch. Altamira was seated at the table, his tail again coiled around one leg of his chair, and Tycho was actually resting on his "lap". . . still in his sphere form. His eye was hidden in the folds of Altamira's toga, and the feathery creature was stroking the Dark Matter's back with one wing.

"Tycho. . . ." Nimbus called softly. He felt a bit hurt at seeing Tycho turning to someone else for comfort. He wasn't jealous of Altamira, but he had to wonder why Tycho couldn't find solace with him instead.

Tycho turned enough to look back at Nimbus, still weeping a little. "I want to go see NOVA!" he cried, sounding more like a cranky Kracko Jr. than a grown Dark Matter. "I want to go right now!"

"Tycho, we can't!" Nimbus tried to tell him. "What about Ma? She's waiting for us back at the inn. Look, Cirrus and Cumulus came with me too- they're both worried about you."

"But I don't want to be a Dark Matter anymore!"

Nimbus cringed a little and looked over at Bora. "You. . . you let him in even though he's a Dark Matter?"

Bora gave a gentle chuckle. "Alta recognized him right away- that eye _is _quite remarkable. Tycho was perfectly civil this afternoon, so I knew he didn't mean us any harm."

"See, Tycho?" Cirrus put in. "Not everyone's scared of you! Priscilla wasn't, and she's just a little thing!"

"But everyone else ran away," Tycho persisted. He turned to look up at Altamira, who was watching him, concerned but slightly bemused as well. "Mr. Altamira, please. . . can't you take me to see NOVA?"

"Well, I. . . oh my, it wouldn't be a problem with enough preparation, but my dear little fellow. . . as I said this afternoon, it is quite a trip." Altamira flapped one wing helplessly.

"If it would help, Alta, I have a set of charts all ready," Bora put in. "I, ah. . . was getting a bit interested in the trip myself, and I did a bit of planning this evening."

"That _would_ help." Altamira smiled up at the elder Kracko with his eye.

"This is ridiculous!" Cumulus exploded. "What's this NOVA, anyway?"

"He's a comet, at the end of this solar system," murmured Tycho. "Mr. Bora was telling me about him this afternoon. NOVA can grant wishes, so he could make me into a Kracko. Then no one would be scared of me anymore."

"Quit being such a baby!" snapped Cumulus. "You expect everyone to drop everything and take you out into space? All because you couldn't control yourself at a party?"

"Cumulus-" Nimbus began. He had to admit that Cumulus was pretty well justified, but he didn't want his brother to make Tycho even more upset.

"I was just getting to know that sweet girl, then _your_ little boyfriend had to scare her to death!" Cumulus rounded on him. "Why couldn't you have fallen for another Kracko like any normal guy, instead of this selfish little twit?"

Tycho gave a wordless little squeak then buried his face in Altamira's robes again. In the meantime, Nimbus' small mouth dropped open; he had never expected Cumulus to be _that_ angry. _Maybe he hasn't really accepted Tycho after all. . . ._

"Cumulus," Cirrus said in a small voice, "don't get so mad. Grandfather will think we're- heathens or something!"

Bora's eye brightened at her title for him. "Of course I don't. I can understand why Cumulus is upset- and where he gets it from." His eye sparkled a bit with humor. "His grandmother has a bit of a temper too."

The elder Kracko then turned to Nimbus. "Why don't you stay here with Tycho for the night, and let Cirrus and Cumulus go back to your inn? I don't want your mother to worry, and they can tell her where you are. If. . . if you don't think she'll be upset," he finished, rather plaintively.

"I-I don't know. I gave her your letter when we left but. . . I guess she's read it by now."

"She'll be fine with you being here, I'm sure," Cirrus assured Nimbus. "That's a good idea, Grandfather. We're not supposed to go home until day after tomorrow, so if. . . if you do go into space. . . ."

"With my ship and some careful steering, it won't take too long to reach NOVA," Altamira put in. "We'll be back by tomorrow evening. . . if we go." Nimbus got the feeling that it was a foregone conclusion that they would go to NOVA, especially when Tycho lifted his eye and looked a bit happier.

_He __**is**__ being selfish, and he's going to get his way, _Nimbus thought. _And- and I don't __**want**__ him to become a Kracko! I love him the way he is. . . ._ Still, if Nimbus didn't want to be the selfish one, he couldn't tell Tycho that.

"Yes, go on back," Nimbus told his siblings. "Please tell Ma not to worry and. . . and not to be mad at me."

"I will," Cirrus assured him, then she floated to him and gave him a tight hug. "Please, be careful!"

"Yeah, come back in one piece," Cumulus said gruffly. Despite his outburst, he patted Nimbus on the back.

"Goodbye, Tycho," murmured Cirrus, but Cumulus ignored the Dark Matter as Bora showed the two Krackos to the door.

While Bora was gone, Nimbus floated a little closer to Altamira and Tycho. "Tycho, I'll go to NOVA with you, if that's what you want," he whispered. "I. . . I'd do anything for you if- if you'd just ask _me_." Altamira's deep blue eye flicked up to Nimbus' sympathetically.

Tycho looked up too, then he drifted out of Altamira's lap and over to Nimbus. "I-I'm sorry," he whimpered. "It's just. . . he. . . he reminds me of Zero Two, only Mr. Altamira is kind to me. When he holds me, I can imagine that- that it's _him_ instead. . . ." At Nimbus' hurt look, Tycho hurried on, "Not- not the way _you_ hold me, Nimbus. I always wanted Zero Two to be. . . I guess like a father would be for you. Mr. Altamira's like that." Tycho pressed close to Nimbus, huddling into his fluff, and he whispered, "But I love _you_. _You're_ my partner."

Nimbus melted inside, immediately forgiving Tycho for all the trouble he had caused. "I love you too, Tycho. I just want you to be happy. I'll do whatever it takes." He wrapped his appendages around the Dark Matter's little round body and hugged him tightly.

When they separated, Altamira was looking at them curiously. "If you don't mind, who is Zero Two?"

"Um, it's a long story," Tycho mumbled. "But he made all of us Dark Matter. He used to be able to control me, but he set me free a little while back because I wanted to be with Nimbus. Zero Two said I was useless to him if I loved someone."

"He looks a lot like you, Mr. Altamira," added Nimbus, "except he has a red eye and feathers. And well, he's a lot bigger."

"I never knew there were more of his species, until we saw you today." Tycho blinked at the feathered eye. "But you're not like him at all. He can't feel good emotions, and I know you can."

"Yes, of course I can. How horrible, not to feel happiness! The poor creature. . . ." Altamira shook his bulbous white body from side to side in a negative gesture. "But now I understand why you reacted as you did when you saw me."

By that time, Bora had returned, and he touched Altamira's side gently. "My dear, _will_ you be able to take us to NOVA? If the journey isn't safe, I don't want to put the boys in any danger. And of course, I wouldn't hear of endangering you either."

"It's safe enough with my ship," Altamira assured him. "The danger comes when one travels without a ship; it's hard to escape the gravity of the other planets in your system without powerful thrusters. And as I said earlier, the trip won't take long- the tricky part is navigating among the planets. That is what makes the journey difficult."

"But you can do it, can't you, Mr. Altamira?" Tycho asked.

"Of course he can!" boomed Bora. "My Altamira is an expert navigator!" The white eye flushed but smiled as Bora rested an appendage along his back.

"It will take me about an hour to prepare my ship," Altamira told them. "Bora, can you get those charts for me?"

"Yes, dear." Bora patted him on the back then went back to the observatory to gather his materials. Altamira smiled at Nimbus and Tycho.

"Have you had your dinner yet?" he asked them.

"No, we haven't. We ah. . . didn't have time to eat anything at the party," Nimbus mumbled.

"Then by all means, come into the kitchen and fix yourselves a snack. You can go ahead and pack some lunches for all of us; Bora has better food than the preserved stuff on my ship!" Altamira used his feathery wings to herd the two of them into Bora's kitchen. It was small but impeccably kept. Altamira took a large picnic basket down from a cabinet and handed it to Nimbus.

"Pack whatever you'd like! I'll come get you when the ship is ready."

After Altamira had fluttered out, Nimbus and Tycho began to gather up some of the fruit, bread, and cheese Bora had stocked. Nimbus munched on a cheese sandwich as he worked.

"Are you hungry?" he asked Tycho around a mouthful.

"No, I've had enough bad energy for one evening," the Dark Matter whispered, pressing close to Nimbus for another embrace.


	7. Chapter 7

Even less than an hour had passed when Bora came to the kitchen to collect Nimbus and Tycho. By then, Nimbus had finished packing their basket of food, and Tycho could hardly sit still with excitement. In spite of himself, Nimbus felt a little excited too. His heart ached whenever he thought of Tycho changing at the end of their journey, but he _did_ like the idea of going into space. His only glimpse of the universe beyond Pop Star had been when Zero Two pulled him and Tycho to Dark Star, and Nimbus wanted to know what regular space travel was like.

"Altamira said he's ready to go," Bora said as he led the two through the back of his observatory. "His spaceship is in my gardens in the back."

"You have room for a spaceship in your back yard?" Nimbus marveled.

Bora chuckled. "Well, it's a small ship. Alta brings it from his home world and leaves it here while he's visiting me."

"Yes, and fortunately, Bora has enough room for it," Altamira added when they joined him at the back doors. "He has quite a lovely space walled in- even a small pond." He opened the double glass doors leading to the gardens as Bora turned on some outdoor lights.

"Well, here she is!" Altamira gestured to the ship proudly with one wing while they waited for Bora to lock up. To Nimbus, Altamira's ship looked like a giant version of the crystal balls he had seen fortune tellers use in Mirovias. In fact, he could see right through most of it; above the floor inside, it appeared to be nearly empty save for a set of controls in the center. Nimbus never would have imagined that it was sturdy enough to go into space.

"Another time, I'll have to show you around out here," Bora told Nimbus and Tycho as Altamira led them towards the spherical craft. "You can't see the gardens well at night, but I have some exotic plant species."

"Oh, I'd love that!" exclaimed Nimbus. "I really like plants."

Bora smiled and patted Nimbus on the back. "Then you're welcome to spend as long here as you like!"

Nimbus and Tycho followed Altamira and Bora into the ship through a sliding panel in the glass. Rich, vibrant red carpet covered the floor in the bottom of the sphere. It contrasted well with Altamira's white and blue coloring, and he seemed perfectly at home as he fluttered over to the controls column.

"You should probably strap yourselves in for now, until we've taken off," the white eye called down to them. "There are seats around the cockpit here."

Nimbus swallowed nervously as he sat down in one of the velvet-covered seats, which matched the carpet. "Is- is it going to be rough?"

Bora chuckled as he buckled himself into the seat to Nimbus' left. "Only for take-off. Believe me, I was nervous too the first few times." The smile in his eye faded, and he murmured, "And to be honest, I'm rather nervous now. I've never been so near to any of the planets before, and space travel always makes me a bit anxious." That didn't make Nimbus feel much better, although he _was_ glad his own anxiety was normal.

Tycho, who had been quiet since they left the kitchen, plopped down into the seat on Nimbus' right, but when he tried to use the seat belt, it fastened right across his eye.

"Mmpgh!" declared Tycho grumpily. "I can't see anything!"

Nimbus had to laugh in spite of his worry. "Here, you can share mine. You're just too little for that seat!" He scooped Tycho up in his appendages and tucked the small Dark Matter into his own seat belt, where Tycho would be cushioned by his fluff.

"It will just be a bit bumpy as we lift off and leave Pop Star's atmosphere," Altamira told them. "But once we're clear, you'll have a smooth trip until we reach the closest planet- that's Floria, according to Bora's charts. I'll tell you my plans for our journey once we're on our way."

Nimbus felt the ship begin to rumble as Altamira powered it up. The Kracko wrapped an appendage around Tycho and held him close; the Dark Matter didn't seem scared, but he leaned into Nimbus all the same. As the ship hummed to life, a small orb of energy formed outside its walls, then the orb began slowly to orbit the craft. The orb picked up speed as Altamira pulled back on the controls, and the ship lifted off of the grass.

As they rose quickly into the atmosphere, Bora closed his maroon eye against the pressure of inertia. Nimbus felt it too, pushing him down into his seat, but he managed to keep his own eye open to look out at the world falling away beneath them. Bora's observatory was already too small to see, and soon even Mirovias' lights made only a small blotch on the dark surface of the planet.

"Almost free of the atmosphere!" Altamira called after a few moments. By then, Pop Star was only a dark mass, although Nimbus could make out its star shape by the corona of sunlight gleaming from the planet's day side. "In a moment, we'll turn and you'll be able to see the planets we need to pass to reach NOVA."

"Dark Star was on the other side," Tycho told Nimbus. "There were some other planets too, but I've never heard of one called Floria."

"Yes, our solar system is a bit strange," Bora put in, finally opening his eye as the ship's motion decreased. "Almost like a double system, with Pop Star at its axis as it orbits around the sun." He looked out the clear side of the ship then gestured with an appendage. "Ah, here, you can see NOVA's side of the system now. That greenish light is Floria."

"We're headed there first." Altamira drifted down from the controls and smiled at them with his eye. "You can unbuckle yourselves now, at least until we get close." As Nimbus unfastened the strap holding himself and Tycho to the seat, Altamira went on, "The difficult part of the journey will start then."

"Is it because of the planets' gravity?" Tycho asked as he floated up into the air, wiggling his petals a little.

"Partially," Altamira admitted. "It will take some delicate steering to avoid being drawn in. However, there is also another task required to speak to NOVA." He turned and fluttered over to the curved side of the ship, where he could look out at the approaching solar system. "To awaken him, one must gather energy from certain dream fountains, one from each planet in the system. My equipment can harvest the energy without landing on the planets, but I must get closer to each than I'd normally like."

"Oh. . . ." Tycho looked down. "I'm sorry you're having to go to so much trouble for me."

Altamira turned back to smile at him gently with his eye. "It's all right. To be honest, it's a challenge I've wanted to try since Bora first told me about NOVA." He reached out a wing to place along Bora's back. "And I've wanted to bring him to see the comet face to face, too."

Bora blushed a little under his down, but his eye softened as he smiled at Altamira. "You're always so thoughtful of me." Altamira leaned forward and touched the halo he wore to one of Bora's uppermost spikes. Nimbus saw a small gleam as the feathered eye exchanged a caress of energy with the elder Kracko.

"I know you're nervous about traveling past the planets, but we'll be fine, my love. I promise," Altamira murmured.

_They're so loving with each other,_ thought Nimbus, _like I remember Ma and Pa being together. And they trust one another completely._

Altamira and Bora nibbled on some of the food Nimbus had packed while the ship's auto-pilot carried them closer to Floria. Soon, though, Altamira had to return to the controls, and Bora recommended that the other three strap in again. Floria loomed before them, and Altamira carefully steered close enough for Nimbus to see the mottled green of the vegetation on its surface.

"I'm going to skim along the edge of the atmosphere," Altamira told them, "while my equipment absorbs the fountain's energy. Then it's on to the next world!" Bora braced himself visibly as the ship entered Floria's exosphere and shifted direction to run parallel along the thermosphere. Still, there wasn't much turbulence, and Nimbus was able to relax in his seat.

They passed seven planets in the same fashion. Each time, Altamira said he was able to harvest sufficient energy from the Fountains of Dreams, although Nimbus never felt any fluxes of energy within the ship. During the voyage, which took a couple hours at most, Nimbus was able to distract himself by studying the planets that moved beneath them. While they _were_ fascinating, underneath he still worried about what would happen to Tycho when they reached NOVA.

"Finally!" declared Altamira as the ship drifted away from Halfmoon, the last of the system's planets. He came back down from the controls and stretched his wings, relaxing now that the hard part of his flight was over. "The planets are behind us. . . and that's NOVA before us."

Nimbus and Tycho left their chair and went to the ship's side to look out at the mechanical comet. He wasn't as large as the system's planets, but he was far bigger than anything else Nimbus had seen. Even Zero Two would have been dwarfed beside him.

NOVA still looked like a golden pocket watch, but from that distance, Nimbus couldn't see his face clearly. Still, the Kracko's eye was drawn towards a dark patch on NOVA's upper right. It looked out of place, and Nimbus couldn't help thinking, _Something's wrong with him. . . ._

"See, there's nothing to be frightened of," Altamira chuckled gently as he stroked Bora's side with one wing. "We're at the edge of the system now, so there's no danger between here and NOVA."

"My, he. . . c-certainly is large!" Bora stammered, clearly still a bit nervous as he gazed out across the vacuum of space at the mechanical comet.

"I hope he's friendly," Tycho said in a small voice.

"I believe he is." Bora relaxed a little as he leaned into Altamira's wing. "However, he is also non-judgmental: he will grant any wish without considering the consequences. Therefore, if one makes a selfish wish, terrible things might happen- but that doesn't mean NOVA is bad. He may do evil things to grant an evil wish, but he'll also do good things to grant a good wish."

"Are you going to wish for something too, Mr. Bora?" asked Tycho.

Bora shook himself from side to side in a negative motion. "No, only one wish can be made when someone summons NOVA. We'd have to go back to gather the energy of the Fountains of Dreams again and summon him a second time to get another wish."

Tycho's eye widened. "You mean. . . all of this trouble you went to was just so I could have a wish? I thought we all could make wishes."

Bora chuckled softly. "What would I wish for, my boy? I already have my life's love by my side. . . and now, I've found my family again. Altamira and Nimbus have granted every wish I've ever had."

Nimbus gazed at his grandfather in pride and honor. _I had no idea I had made him that happy. . . ._

"It's the same for me," Altamira added, smiling with his eye. "There is much I still want to accomplish in my own world- but it would be selfish indeed if I asked NOVA to do my work for me. Besides, how could I know the consequences? If I asked NOVA to give me instantly the answers I sought to my formulae and problems, something devastating could happen. I must research every step of my work myself to be sure I wasn't making a mistake." His eye beamed, and he reached his tail up to brush Bora's fluff with one of its spikes. "And I already have my greatest treasure right here."

Tycho looked at Nimbus. "Don't you have any wishes?"

"I wish you'd stay just the way you are," Nimbus blurted out before he could stop himself. "I don't want you to be a Kracko- I want you to stay the Dark Matter I love!" He wrapped his appendages around Tycho's little body and held him close. "But. . . but I also wish for you to be happy. That's more important than what I want. As long as I have you, I'll love you no matter what you look like. So all I could ask NOVA would be to do what would give you peace. . . ."

"Nimbus. . . ." Tycho fluttered his eyelid against Nimbus' fluffy face, kissing him softly. Then the Dark Matter gently pulled back enough to turn and look out at NOVA again. "I guess. . . I guess we all have love, and that's what most people would wish for." He glanced back at Altamira. "That's something Zero Two never had, and now he's. . . he's gone."

"What happened to him?" Altamira asked. "I have to admit I'm curious, if he was the same species as I am. . . ."

"He lived on Dark Star," Tycho murmured. "It was made out of Dark Matter like me, and Zero Two said that if he got destroyed, Dark Star would be too. So if it's gone, that means he's- he's d-dead." Tycho turned back to Nimbus abruptly and pressed his face into the Kracko's fluff. Nimbus felt a few tears soaking into his coat. _He really did care for that. . . that creature,_ Nimbus marveled as he stroked the Dark Matter's back. _Even though Zero Two couldn't love him back. . . ._

Tycho didn't speak again as Altamira's ship covered the rest of the distance to NOVA. Altamira and Bora didn't disturb him, although Nimbus saw a very thoughtful expression in Altamira's eye as he pondered the mystery of Zero Two.

Finally, the spherical ship drew close to NOVA's face. Altamira returned briefly to the controls to cause the ship to hover in place, then he rejoined the others. Nimbus gazed up at the comet, particularly eager to see the crystalline blue eyes. However, only the right eye was open; NOVA's left was tightly closed. Still, NOVA's peaceful expression helped Nimbus to relax a little, and his curiosity was piqued by the array of miscellany surrounding the comet: a clock, light bulbs of various types, a telescope. . . . But then Nimbus recognized the dark spot he had seen from a distance. NOVA's left forehead had been shattered, and the darkness visible came from the shadows in the comet's interior. Apparently whatever had broken his forehead had caused the perpetually closed eye.

_He's been damaged_, Nimbus marveled. _Someone- someone hurt him._

NOVA's eyes focused on the ship, apparently somehow seeing them within it, for a moment later, Nimbus heard his mechanical voice echo all around them.

"Ready," the comet intoned. He spoke without emotion, although his voice seemed gentle. "I will grant you one wish."

"My goodness!" Bora cried. "How are we able to hear him? His voice shouldn't carry through the vacuum of space. . . ."

"It came through my ship's speakers," Altamira told them. "He must have detected our radio frequency and is broadcasting to us." He glanced back at the comet with admiration. "He really is a remarkable machine! Tycho, you'll need to speak into the microphone there on the control column. If you hold down the red button there while you speak, it will broadcast your voice to NOVA via radio, so you can make your wish."

Tycho looked at him and nodded, then he turned to Nimbus. Nimbus felt his own eye fill with tears that spilled over onto his down, and he pulled Tycho close. _I'll never get to hold him like this again,_ the Kracko thought. He hoped he would always be able to remember how Tycho's little body felt against him.

When he let Tycho go, the Dark Matter slowly floated up to the control column, where he looked up at NOVA before lowering his red eye again. Tycho appeared to wince as he held down the microphone button, then he leaned forward to speak into the microphone.

"I wish. . . ." Tycho looked at the microphone before him, then he turned his large eye up to look at Nimbus again. Nimbus couldn't bear it, and he turned away with a muffled sob. Suddenly he felt a set of appendages embracing him; looking down, he saw that they were covered in grey fluff. Nimbus turned to hug Bora back, hiding his face against his grandfather's side. He wasn't watching when Tycho blurted out, "Oh, NOVA, I wish that Zero Two was still alive so he could know what it's like to love someone like this!"


	8. Chapter 8

Upon hearing Tycho's wish, his three traveling companions all turned to stare at him. Altamira's delicate mouth was even hanging open. NOVA, however, didn't seem to be perturbed.

"OK," he said amiably.

"Tycho," gasped Nimbus. The little Dark Matter looked at him and flushed deeply, but before he could say anything, NOVA continued.

"The one called Zero Two sleeps in the depths of space. I will awaken him once more among those who may heal him."

_Who would be able to heal someone like Zero Two?_ Nimbus wondered. _And who in Gamble Galaxy would be able to make him love?_

He looked back out at NOVA as the mechanical comet spoke. "Three. . . two. . . one. . . _go_!" NOVA closed his remaining eye and shuddered a bit. Nimbus saw why when the gigantic creature started to turn; NOVA was firing several rocket thrusters on his back. He began to move slowly at first, but then he picked up speed and shot away into space, making a long arc as he orbited Pop Star's solar system. In a moment, all Nimbus could see of him was a point of light headed far away.

"He must be going to where Dark Star was," Tycho murmured. "That must be where Zero Two is. . . ." The Dark Matter plopped down on the floor of the control column with a thump, his little petals drooping around him.

"Tycho? Are you okay?" Nimbus hurried over to the column and peered over the edge with his single eye. Tycho rolled on his side to look at Nimbus, then lost his balance and tumbled off the column. Nimbus caught his friend's body in his fluffy appendages and gave him a worried nuzzle.

"Just tired," mumbled the Dark Matter. He snuggled close to Nimbus, stroking his fluff with his petals. To Nimbus' embarrassment, Altamira and Bora both hovered near them, obviously curious about Tycho's wish.

"Um, Tycho, why. . . I thought you wanted to be a Kracko," Nimbus finally asked. "I mean, I'm glad- I'm _so_ glad. But why did you change your mind?"

Tycho turned his large red and gold eye up to Nimbus blue one. "Well. . . Mr. Bora and Mr. Altamira are happy together, and they're as different as we are. But that was just part of it." He reached up a petal to touch Nimbus' face. "When you said that you didn't want me to change. . . I decided that if you liked me best as a Dark Matter, I could learn to deal with other people being scared of me."

"But I've been telling you all this time that I like you the way you are!" Nimbus blurted out.

"Hehe, I know," Tycho assured him. "But I thought you were just being kind and trying to make me feel better. I didn't realize you would be so upset if I changed." He pressed close to Nimbus and hugged him tightly. "I'll just keep practicing my other form. Maybe I'll be able to control it better someday. . . but as long as you never run away from me, I'll be okay like this."

Nimbus squeezed Tycho as hard as he could, eye-kissing his face over and over. "I'll never leave you, I promise, Tycho. I love you too much!"

Tycho giggled softly. "You mean you won't divorce me?"

The Kracko flushed, knowing his grandfather was listening. "N-no, but, um. . . you know, we'd have to be married before we can get divorced, anyway."

Tycho blinked up at him. "What's 'married'?"

Nimbus stifled a groan. "I'll explain it later."

"Tycho, I do have a question too, if you don't mind," Bora rumbled. "Why did you wish what you did?"

"Well, since none of you had a wish, I decided to wish for the other thing I wanted," murmured Tycho. He peeked over Nimbus' "shoulder" at the elder Kracko. "I didn't want Zero Two to die. . . and I want him to be able to be happy. I don't know if NOVA can really do that, and I guess I'll never find out what's happened. But I feel better, because I tried."

"You're a very kind little Dark Matter," Altamira said, his blue eye lighting up with a smile. He reached out a wing to pat Tycho. "I hope that someday those who are prejudiced against you will see that."

Tycho blushed proudly. "Th-thank you, Mr. Altamira."

The feathered eye looked out at the space surrounding them, then he stretched his wings. "I suppose we'd better get started back. It will be an easier journey, since I don't have to fly so close to the planets- but still, it will take a little while."

"Yeah, I bet Ma's worried," Nimbus sighed. "I'd like to get home as soon as we can." He broke off in a yawn. Tycho giggled and poked his petal into Nimbus' little mouth playfully.

"Why don't you boys get some rest?" smiled Bora. "Altamira, you don't mind if they use your sleeping quarters, do you?"

"No, of course not." Altamira waved towards the back of the ship with one wing, then he fluttered back to the control column. "I'll get us started, then you and I can rest up here, Bora. Why don't you show them where the bunk is?"

As Altamira began to turn his ship around, Bora herded Tycho and Nimbus through a door in the back of the ship's open bridge. Inside was a small cabin with a bunk, to which Bora gestured.

"You two can rest there. Alta and I will be dozing on the chairs outside if you need anything."

"Thank you, Grandfather." Nimbus smiled at him, then he and Tycho settled in on the bunk to rest. Nimbus thought he wouldn't be able to sleep out there in space, but the long day soon got the better of him. He slept so soundly, he didn't even know they were close to home until Tycho shook him awake.

"C'mon, Nimbus, get up!" the Dark Matter whined. "Mr. Bora came in five minutes ago and said we were almost to Pop Star!"

"Ngh, all right. . . ." Nimbus blinked drowsily, then he heaved his fluffy body up off the bunk and went back to the bridge with Tycho. Nimbus was relieved to see his star-shaped planet below them, growing ever-larger as they prepared to land.

Looking a bit brighter about the eye than before his nap, Bora chuckled when he saw Nimbus. The elder Kracko was already seated for their landing. "Feeling better? You two had better strap in again; the atmosphere might make it a bit turbulent going down."

They quickly complied, just as Altamira began to lower the ship over Mirovias. This time Nimbus had to close his eye; it made him nervous to see the ground rushing up to meet them. Finally he felt a solid thump as they landed, and he opened his eye with relief. Bora's garden was on the other side of the ship's clear dome; the trees appeared a misty-blue grey as dawn approached.

"Here we are!" Bora took off his seat belt and looked up at Altamira as the feathered eye cut the power to the ship. Altamira fluttered down beside him and gave him a light energy kiss with his halo.

"Let's see about getting Nimbus and Tycho back where they belong," Altamira smiled.

However, Nimbus soon found out that they weren't going to have a chance. Once the four had gone inside the observatory, Bora floated up to the front to turn off the lights at his door, which had accidentally burned all night.

"Oh- oh _my_," Nimbus heard his grandfather gulp. Altamira hurried to Bora's side immediately, with Nimbus and Tycho following.

"What is it, my dear?" Altamira asked.

"Outside." Bora gestured vaguely at the door. "It- I think it's Ebru!"

"Oh no, Ma. . . ." Nimbus' insides sank with worry- both for his mother's health and his own safety. _Has she been out there all night? . . . she's gonna kill me!_

Bora took a deep breath, then opened the door. Nimbus saw that his mother was indeed outside, sitting on the sidewalk leading up to Bora's door. She appeared to be dozing, but at least she wasn't alone: Cirrus and Cumulus were slumped over next to her. Cumulus was awake, though, and he jumped when he saw the four travelers peeking out at them.

"N-nimbus!" Cumulus blurted out; relief was plain in his voice, no matter how tough he usually tried to act. When he spoke, Ebru came awake immediately, and she popped up into the air.

"_Nimbus!_" she gasped. "Tycho!" Ignoring everyone else, she swept forward and pulled them both close in a tight embrace- then she pushed them away and gave them a hard shake.

"What were you two _thinking_?" she exploded. "Am I to understand that you went off into space to- to visit some fairy tale wish-granting _comet_?"

"Erm. . . I'm sorry," Nimbus cringed.

"I-it was my fault," Tycho added in a small voice. "I made Nimbus go. And- and there really _was_ a wish-granting comet!"

"Then why aren't you a Kracko?" Cirrus piped up, but Ebru had more important questions.

"Even if it _was_ Tycho's idea, you have more sense than that, Nimbus!" she scolded. Then she rounded on her father. "And _you_! How could you _ever_ think that it was a good idea to take two children off gallivanting into _space_?" Normally Nimbus would have volunteered that he quit being a child some years ago, but he decided it wasn't a good time to bring up the matter.

"I'm sorry, Ebru," Bora blustered; obviously, it was not the reunion he had imagined. "I, ah. . . I'm not quite sure what came over me, but-"

"I know _exactly_ what came over you! It's just like Mother always said- you never grew up when it comes to the cosmos!" Ebru waved her appendages in the air. "These two came to you talking about running away into space, and you thought it sounded like a grand adventure!" She finally fell silent, her fluff bristling with static electricity.

Bora blinked at her slowly from behind his monocle, then he said with remarkable constraint, "Well, sometimes one's children _will_ run away." Ebru's mouth fell open, then she closed it again with an effort. Nimbus thought she was even angrier, but then he saw her violet eye mist over with tears. Cirrus and Cumulus looked at each other nervously.

Bora drew in a deep breath. "But if one is a successful parent, they'll come back. . . as yours have." He put a grey appendage on each of Tycho's and Nimbus' backs. "They are unharmed, and it won't happen again- you have my word, for what it's worth." He smiled at her sadly with his eye. "Perhaps if I had been a better parent, my child would have come home, too."

Altamira had been silent throughout the exchange; he now put a wing around Bora as the elder Kracko looked away, blinking fiercely.

"Please, come inside," Altamira told the visitors softly. "I'll get some breakfast for all of us, and you can be more comfortable."

Ebru looked at him a bit blankly- Nimbus wondered if Bora's letter had said anything about her parents' divorce, or her father's male lover- but then she bobbed in the air and moved to follow them inside. In a few moments, while the Krackos and Tycho sat in tense silence, Altamira served them fluffy scrambled eggs and hot tea.

"Tycho," Ebru finally said after a long sip of tea, "please, tell me everything." She glanced at Nimbus and Bora who were sitting side-by-side with matching expressions of chagrin in their eyes. "You seem to be the only one with any reasons for your behavior." Still, there was a slight sparkle in her eye now. Tycho carefully told her the whole story, going all the way from his jealousy of Rachel to his wish for Zero Two's happiness.

"And then we just came home," he finished. "I'm. . . I'm sorry, all of you. For ruining the party, and making you take me into space, and for wishing _that_ after all the trouble you went through for me." He buried a petal in Nimbus' fluff, clinging to him. "I just want to be happy with Nimbus- and for him to be happy with me. And I had that all along."

Ebru sighed softly. "I understand, Tycho. I can't be angry with you- I know all too well how you feel. I felt the same way about Nimbus' father." She got up and drifted over to Tycho, drawing him in for a gentle hug. "I love you very much, my little Dark Matter, and I want you and Nimbus to be happy too. If it took worrying me sick for an evening for that to happen. . . I guess it's a price I can pay." To Tycho's embarrassment, she gave him an eye-kiss in front of everyone, then she returned to her seat.

"I'm sorry too, Ma," Nimbus apologized. "I shouldn't have let Tycho go, but. . . well, he was crying and. . . ." He smiled sheepishly.

"And you can't resist that big eye, can you?" She chuckled softly, then she looked at Bora and Altamira. "Father. . . and- I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

Bora's eye teared up, but Altamira smiled gently. "It's Altamira."

Ebru floated up again, then gave an elaborate curtsey, as graceful as any young Kracko debutante. "Please forgive me for making a scene in your home, Altamira. And F-father. . . ." She righted herself and looked at Bora, her striped spikes trembling a little. "I'm sorry for- for never letting you know I was all right. I thought you and Mother really didn't ever want to see me again."

"Ebru!" Bora actually choked on her name, and Nimbus looked away in embarrassment. _I never will get used to seeing older Krackos cry. . . ._

"We were stubborn and foolish, both of us," Bora went on when he got control of himself. "Especially myself, who had spent my whole life trying to run away from my feelings. I didn't realize that, until I met Altamira and stopped running." He cast a loving look at Altamira, then he turned back to his daughter. "And I never meant it. We never intended to disown you, _never_- I just hoped that it would keep you from marrying Stratus. And then you were gone, and we didn't know where to find you. . . ."

"I'm sorry," Ebru said again, looking up at him with love in her eye.

"I wish I could have seen Stratus too, and told him how sorry I was," Bora sighed. "And how grateful I am that you _did_ marry and know love. . . and that you brought these lovely children into the world." He patted Nimbus on the back with an appendage. "Nimbus here is quite a remarkable young man!"

"Hehe, I know," Ebru smiled. "Especially since he brought home a Dark Matter. . . ." She floated closer to Bora then hesitated, hovering shyly before him. Bora immediately put out his appendages and embraced her closely, stroking her soft grey fluff that was nearly the exact shade of his.

"You've made me very happy," he whispered. "If my life ran out this very hour, I couldn't wish for anything more." He looked at Cirrus over Ebru's "shoulder" and smiled. "And that, my dear, is why Tycho isn't a Kracko."

Cirrus had been sniffling a little, overcome with emotion, but at this, she blinked. "Hunh?" Tycho just giggled.

* * *

Ebru and her family- Tycho included- soon returned to the inn for some much-needed sleep. Before they left the observatory, they made plans to dine with Bora and Altamira that evening, as the family would leave for home the next morning.

"I wish Aella still lived in Mirovias," Bora had sighed, "but she moved out to a country estate soon after we divorced." Ebru promised instead to make another journey soon to visit her mother.

"Um, Ma? Can I go out a little before we go to dinner?" Cumulus asked cautiously as they settled into their nests for a nap- Nimbus and Tycho in one nest together.

Ebru cast her eldest a stern look. "Why?"

"I'd. .. uh, I'd like to see Rachel again. Make sure she's okay," Cumulus mumbled.

Cirrus piped up, "We could all go! I want to get her address anyway; I'd like to write to her!"

"And I'd like to tell Priscilla thanks for being so kind to me," Tycho put in, a smile in his eye.

"Great," grumbled Cumulus, obviously feeling cheated out of getting some alone time with his new romantic interest.

"All right, we'll all go," Ebru chuckled, her eye sparkling at Cumulus.

And they did, right before enjoying the most delicious meal Nimbus could ever remember having. The next day, Cirrus left Mirovias with Rachel's address- and Cumulus left still proudly remembering the shy kiss Rachel had given him on his cheek when no one was looking. Best of all, in Nimbus' opinion, was the beautiful, leather-bound journal he carried in his pack. The cover was a deep blue, the color of the midnight sky, and its surface was dotted with silver foil stars. Bora had taken it down from a shelf after dinner, once Nimbus mentioned his disappointment at not having time to pick up a new journal for himself and Tycho.

"This is for the two of you to share," Bora had told them. "I bought it some time ago but never had much to write besides my observations. . . . You'll give it a much better home than I will."

"I want to write a story about our trip to NOVA," Tycho told Nimbus as they floated towards home, drifting along behind the others.

"Maybe someday, we'll know how it ends," Nimbus said. "For Zero Two, I mean."

"I think I believe NOVA." Tycho reached out a petal and took Nimbus' appendage. "I bet Zero Two will be happy too someday." He grinned up at the Kracko and suddenly gave him a tight hug. "Although I don't think anyone could be happy as us!"

Nimbus didn't think so either.

* * *

The End


End file.
